A cyborg moth, utilizing the common insect, may soon be used to assist for responders in rescue efforts, potentially saving human lives. The tiny flying cyborgs could access areas that are inaccessible to larger instruments.
Biobots could reach areas too dangerous for humans and too small for most instruments. Although far too small to rescue victims or move large objects, a cyborg moth would be able to provide images and other data to assist rescue workers.
North Carolina State University researchers discovered a way to control the electrical signals used by moths for flight and to control the muscles needed. This could open the door to the development of a new generation of hybrids between biological and technological systems.
"The idea would be to attach sensors to moths in order to create a flexible, aerial sensor network that can identify survivors or public health hazards in the wake of a disaster," Alper Bozkurt, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State, said.
The team attached electrodes to the tiny animals while they were still in their pupal stage, in the cocoons, developing into winged moths. These tiny probes were connected to muscles responsible for flight, able to control electromyographic signals used to direct flight. As the animal developed inside its protective coating, muscles and skin encased the tiny probes. By the time the insect developed into a fully-grown adult, the implant was, essentially, a functioning part of the animal.
Cyborg moths were studied inside a "levitation chamber," which kept them in the center of the instrument. Outside the cage, a ring of LED lights flashed in one direction, then in reverse, as investigators monitored electrochemical signals in the insect.
Researchers were not able to control the moth while in flight, but gathered important data on how such a feat might be accomplished.
"We're optimistic that this information will help us develop technologies to remotely control the movements of moths in flight. That's essential to the overarching goal of creating biobots that can be part of a cyberphysical sensor network," Bozkurt stated in a university press release.
Cyborgs have long been a staple of science fiction stories. The term, applying to any hybrid of biological and electronic systems, was first coined in 1960 by scientist and inventor Manfred Clynes, along with medical researcher Nathan S. Kline. The creatures are often symbolic of human over-reliance on technology.
A video explaining how university researchers could replicate the experiment investigating cyborg moths is available on the iBionicSLab page on YouTube.
