--- title: "Scientists Build Tiny Robots That Can Inspect, Manipulate Your Cells" description: "A team of researchers at Tel Aviv University in Israel has come up with tiny micro-robots that can distinguish between healthy and dying cells." date: "2023-04-01" modified: "2023-04-01" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/scientists-tiny-robots-inspect-cells" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "cancer cells" - "micro robots" --- # Scientists Build Tiny Robots That Can Inspect, Manipulate Your Cells ![A team of researchers at Tel Aviv University in Israel has come up with tiny micro-robots that can distinguish between healthy and dying cells.]() *\Image: Getty Images\* A team of researchers at Tel Aviv University in Israel has come up with [tiny micro-robots]() that can scan individual cells to tell whether they're healthy or in trouble. These tiny cell inspectors, a mere ten microns across each, are even capable of transporting desired cells to a different location with the use of electricity or a magnet for later genetic analysis, making them a potentially groundbreaking new tool for diagnosing diseases or delivering drugs to a chosen location. As detailed in a [study]() published in the journal *Advanced Science*, the researchers borrowed from the natural functions of other organisms found in our bodies to develop the micro-robots. "Developing the micro-robot’s ability to move autonomously was inspired by biological micro-swimmers like bacteria and sperm cells," said Gilad Yossifon, biomedical engineering professor at Tel Aviv University and lead author of the paper, in a [statement](). "This is an innovative area of research that is developing rapidly, with a wide variety of uses in fields such as medicine and the environment and as a research tool." The tiny robots could, for instance, be used to single out cancer cells and transport them for taking biological samples and later medical diagnosis. In tests, the researchers were able to use the robots to distinguish between healthy or dying cells and capture individual blood and cancer cells within a single bacterium. "Our new development significantly advances the technology in two main aspects — hybrid propulsion and navigation by electric and magnetic mechanisms that are very different," Yossifon said in the statement. "In addition, the micro-robot has an improved ability to identify and capture a single cell — without the need for tagging — for local testing or retrieval and transport to an external instrument." The researcher and his team are now looking to develop micro-robots that are capable of working inside the body that could, for instance, be used as "effective drug carriers that can be precisely guided to the target," according to Yossifon. **More on bio robots:** *[Scientists Build Gruesome Robots That Move With Mouse Muscles]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()