Overview

• Researchers in Carnegie Mellon University’s Ren lab report microscale living biobots made from human lung stem-cell spheroids with programmable motility.
• The platform assembles AggreBots by fusing spheroids into defined shapes and inserting genetically immotile regions to create precise, region-specific propulsion patterns.
• Using cilia as the actuator departs from prior muscle-fiber biobots and targets controllable movement suited to fluid environments.
• Potential uses highlighted include targeted therapeutic delivery, modeling cilia-related diseases such as primary ciliary dyskinesia and cystic fibrosis, and patient-specific devices built from a person’s own cells to reduce immune rejection risk.
• The team underscores that the work remains an in vitro proof-of-concept requiring finer motility control, in vivo testing, safety evaluation, and scaling, with the all-biological constructs described as biodegradable and biocompatible.