Bionic microbots
Researchers led by nanotechnologist Carlo Montemagno at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed microscopic robots made of silicon that are powered by muscle tissue. The microbots were created by allowing self-assembling cells to grow on a tiny robotic structure, less than one millimeter long. Each had two legs with feet, with cardiomyocytes (muscle cells from a rat’s heart in this case) growing on the silicon skeleton. Since the cells grow on their own, there is no need to graft muscle tissue. The structure can be powered by placing it in a system charged with glucose, like a living body. The muscles then contract in an organized manner, causing the microbots to "walk." "I can make hundreds of thousands as easily as I can make one" says Montemagno. Such devices could power computer chips like mini electrical generators or be used as a muscle-based way to stimulate nerves, allowing people who are paralysed to breathe without a ventilator. Below, watch that bad boy go!
Growing muscle cells power microbots, CBC.ca.
Microbots grow own muscles from cells, NerdShit.com