Swedish scientists have connected an artificial nerve cell to the nervous system of a Venus flytrap. When they stimulated the nerve cell with an electrical pulse, the plant closed its flap.
It sounds futuristic: an artificial nerve cell that controls a living plant. Yet that is exactly what nanoscientist Simone Fabiano and his colleagues from Linköping University in Sweden.
Neural Network
Nerve cells, also called neurons, are the building blocks of our brain. They control our bodily functions by processing all signals that enter our body, and pass that information on to the rest of our body through electrical stimuli. The places where these stimuli are transferred from one nerve cell to another are called synapses. Thanks to these connections, all neurons in our body form a large complex network.
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To mimic this network, the researchers printed artificial nerve cells and synapses with a 3D printer. With this they put a artificial neural network together.
“It’s a completely artificial circuit that mimics the behavior of our own nerve cells,” says mechanical engineer Imke Krauhausen from Eindhoven University of Technology, which is not associated with this study. ‘A biological neuron is activated by the movement of charged particles in and out of the cell. This is done here with electrical pulses. Very interesting.’
shock
The scientists managed to link this artificial network to the nervous system of the Venus flytrap. They then shocked the artificial nerve cell, causing the living plant to close its catch.
Robots and implants
Such artificial neural networks can be used in the world of robotics, says Krauhausen. ‘It is becoming increasingly important to find efficient and independent ways to control robots. These kinds of artificial structures are very interesting candidates.’
A possible next step is to connect the artificial neural network to human cells, Krauhausen speculates. This network can then form an artificial connection between parts of our own nervous system. If successful, scientists may have a new treatment for nerve damage. But, emphasizes Krauhausen: ‘That is still very far in the future.’