Implant machines into insects - A new future for spy technology?

Investment studies and the development of a machine insect for use in hyper espionage purposes have been carried out over a long period of time, most of which focused on battery and energy use. solar or small generators to transform insect movements into energy supplied to electronic devices that are attached to insects. Now a group of researchers at Case Western Reserve University has created a device that provides energy based on the resolution of insect food.

>>>Sensors use electricity from insect chemicals

For the reason that the use of insects will really be easier and much less expensive than having to invest in research from the beginning to create a device capable of acting like the cones. coincidentally, the case group of Case Western Reserve University includes graduate student Michelle Rasmussen, biological professor Roy E. Ritzmann, chemistry professor Irene Lee and assistant biology researcher Alan J. Pollack. together develop an implantable biofuel cell capable of supplying energy through many different sensors for electronic devices implanted into an insect.

To convert chemical energies on insects into electrical energy, the team used two enzymes in a string to form an anode. The first enzyme breaks down the trehalose sugars, the sugars that insects make from food into two simple sugars (monosaccaride). Meanwhile, the second enzyme is responsible for oxidizing monosaccarides single sugar molecules and releasing electrons. These electric molecules will move away from the anode, occurring in parallel with this process, which will be the process of creating air or water.

After experiments with solutions for trehalose separation, the team conducted experiments on insects. They transplanted one of their prototype electrodes into a blood sinus belonging to an important organ of female cockroaches. The researchers also said these cockroaches recover and adapt very quickly.

"The insects all have an open circulatory system so their blood pressure is not high, so they are not like vertebrates because when they are," explains Professor Ritzmann . We put an electronic device in a vein or an artery (with very high blood pressure) of vertebrates that will endanger the blood vessels, but this does not affect the cones much. coincide.

By using a potentiostat , the team determined the maximum capacity that fuel cells could achieve between 100 and 450 microwatts per square centimeter with electric current 0.2. volt.

In the coming time, researchers will work hard to further reduce these fuel cells, making it easier to transplant into insects while ensuring normal operation. they. They are also working with other researchers to create a low-power signal generator and a rechargeable micro-battery for transplanting into this system.

"Systems that are installed on these insects can operate continuously," said Scherson, a member of the research team: "An insect equipped with a deterministic sensor the amount of toxic gas in a room, broadcast and then detect the resulting signals, then the system shuts down and resumes after another hour. " Currently, research by the Case Western Reserve University team has been published in the journal of the American Chemical Society.