From the Independent:
The sperm's tail acts like a tiny outboard motor
inside a metal nanotube; the resulting biobot could be used to deliver
drugs and guide sperm to the egg
Scientists have created the first ever
“sperm-based biobots” by trapping single sperm cells inside metal
nanotubes and remotely controlling their direction using magnets.
The resulting biobot (a ‘biological robot’, referring to a bacterium
or cell which has been programmed to behave in a certain way) could be put to a
range of uses, including delivering drugs to a specific target in the body or
fertilising an egg, reports New Scientist.
The experiments have been led by Oliver Schmidt at the Institute for
Integrative Nanosciences in Dresden, Germany. Schmidt and his team created
magnetic nanotubes 50 microns long by 5 to 8 microns in diameter and dropped these
into a fluid containing bull sperm.
The tubes, which are narrower at one end to stop the sperm
from escaping, can then be rotated by using magnetic fields. The tail-like flagellum
of the sperm cell sticks outside the end of the tube and powers the biobot
around the fluid like an outboard motor....MORE
This is not one of the biobots:
Rather it is Secretary of State John Kerry reenacting the sperm scene from
Everthing You Ever Wanted to Know About Sex*
*
But Were afraid to Ask
