News Neuroscience

Tiny, magnetically controlled robots coax nerve cells to grow connections

New research could point to additional treatments for people with nerve injuries

nerve cells and a tiny robot

Nerve cells (colored blue and green in this microscope image) grow along thin grooves of a microrobot that scientists control with magnetic fields.

Hongsoo Choi/ DGIST-ETH Microrobotics Research Center

By Laura Sanders

Tiny robots can operate as nerve cell connectors, bridging gaps between two distinct groups of cells. These microscopic patches may lead to more sophisticated ways to grow networks of nerve cells in the laboratory, and perhaps even illuminate ways to repair severed nerve cells in people, researchers report September 25 in Science Advances.