In some ways, says Ritu Raman, an inchworm is similar to a smartphone. Both are machines — one living, one not — that can sense changes in their environments and light up, change color, or make a sound.
But there’s one major difference on which Raman built her career.
“If I pick up my phone right now and throw it across the room, it will break.” Living cells, on the other hand, can heal, grow, get stronger, and learn, making them a promising foundation not just for biofabricated machines, but also for tissue created from a patient’s cells, organs-on-a-chip for rapid drug development, and lab-made meat.
