Dawn of the Cyborg Bacteria

In a basement laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania, two roboticists have harnessed the innate sensing, swimming, and swarming abilities of bacteria to power microscopic robots. Even though their work sounds like the prologue to a dark science fiction film, Ph.D. students Elizabeth Beattie and Denise Wong hope these initial experiments with nano bio-robots will provide a platform for future medical and micro-engineering endeavors. Produced by Luke Groskin Music by Audio Network Footage ands Stills Provided by Elizabeth Beattie Denise Wong Edward Steager Prelinger Archives Quentin Lindsey, Daniel Mellinger, and Vijay Kumar, University of Pennsylvania’s GRASP Lab