Sperm-bots are made to move in desired direction (w/ Video)
Scientists have shown how controlled sperm cells inside tubes can be driven to target destinations using magnetic control. The significance of their investigation lies partly in what may be in store for in vitro fertilization. "Eventually," said a report in New Scientist, "these biobots could be used to shepherd individual sperm to eggs or to deliver targeted doses of drugs." The researchers, from the Institute for Integrative Nanosciences (IIN) in Dresden, Germany, demonstrated how remote-controlled "sperm-bots" can be used to fertilize eggs. A paper on their work was published last month in Advanced Materials and the topic continues to draw interest in this month's technology and science news sites. The December paper, "Development of a Sperm-Flagella Driven Micro-Bio-Robot," is by Veronika Magdanz, Samuel Sanchez, and Oliver G. Schmidt. They developed "a new biohybrid micro-robot" by capturing bovine sperm cells inside tubes that used the motile cells as the driving force....