Fox News wrote:
Scientists have yoked bacteria to power rotary motors, the first microscopic mechanical devices to successfully incorporate living microbes together with inorganic parts.
"In far future plans, we would like to make micro-robots driven by biological motors," researcher Yuichi Hiratsuka, a nanobiotechnologist now at the University of Tokyo, told LiveScience.
. . . This pear-shaped microbe, a millionth of a meter long, can glide over surfaces at up to seven-tenths of an inch an hour. Translated to a six-foot-tall runner, this roughly equates to 20 mph.
The researchers built circular pathways coated with sugary proteins, which the microbe needs to stick to in order to glide over surfaces. They then docked a rotor onto the track and coated the bacteria with vitamin B7, which acted like glue to yoke the germs to the cog. They also genetically modified the microbes so they stuck to their tracks more stably.
The scientists created roughly 20,000 rotors on a silicon chip. Each cog is etched from silica, which sand is made of, and is 20 microns wide, or roughly a fifth the diameter of a human hair.
The rotors spun at roughly 1.5 to 2.6 revolutions per minute. Each individual cell in these motors generates roughly 10,000 times less torque than conventional microscopic electronic motors can . . . more
Baikinman, head of the Bacteria Workers' Union, has already flagged a possible stop-work meeting by all union members next week to discuss better remuneration and conditions.
Q: Would a "nanobiotechnologist" be only one-billionth the size of a normal, garden-variety biotechnologist?
