Bioengineers from Harvard have taken the first step towards making the Terminator series come truetheyve created functioning samples of cyborg tissue, half-living and half-electronics. Tissue samples include neurons, muscle and heart cells, and blood vessels interwoven with nanowires and transistors.

To start building the cyborg flesh, researchers started with a 3D scaffoldusually made of collagenwhere cells were encouraged to grow. Nanowires and transistors were woven into the collagen matrix to create nanoelectric scaffolds (nanoES), and the cells were then grown as usual.

The Harvard team has mostly grown rat tissues so far, but theyve also grown a 1.5 cm cyborg human blood vessel. According to lead researcher, Charles Lieber, the next step is to use the nanoelectric scaffold to talk to individual cells, to wire up tissue and communicate with it in the same way a biological system does. So far, theyve only used the nanoES to read cellular data.

TJD, GMA News

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Cyborg flesh is now a reality