Robotic Sperm (also called spermbots) are "sperm-based biobots" developed by trapping single sperm cells inside metal nanotubes and remotely controlling their direction using magnets. The robots may have potential applications in drug delivery or small-scale manufacturing.
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Design
The design has a metal-coated head and a flexible body about six times longer than a human sperm. The nanotubes are thin sheets of titanium and iron. They have a magnetic property. First they are rolled into conical tubes, with one end wider than the other. Then the nanotubes are put into a solution in a Petri dish and added to bovine sperm cells. A live sperm cell is put at the wider end of the tube and it becomes trapped down near the narrow end. As the scientists close the wider end, the sperm can't come out. The trapped cell pusheS against the tube, moving it forward.
Navigation
The device is placed into a moving field, produced by the coils of an electromagnet. The metal element is used to orient it in different directions. The navigation is done adjusting the magnetic field changes with a computer.The performance of these biological robotic sperm dependence on tube radius, cell penetration, and temperature. When sperm swam into the tubes they became stuck headfirst, with their flagella still free so they could swim about.
Applications
Robotic Sperm based targeted drug delivery may have the potential to treat many diseases, such as the cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. In traditional drug delivery systems such as oral ingestion or intravascular injection, the medication is distributed throughout the body through the systemic blood circulation. Robotic sperm based delivery seeks to concentrate the medication in the tissues of interest while reducing the relative concentration of the medication in the remaining tissues. Scientists of Institute for Integrative Nanosciences, Germany, have successfully tested tiny, magnetically-driven power suits for individual sperm that can turn them into steerable cyborg “spermbots.” This is a novel attempt to achieve successful fertilization with artificially motorized sperms.