In a basement laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania, two roboticists have harnessed the sensing, swimming, and swarming abilities of bacteria to power microscopic robots. Even though their work sounds like the prologue to a dark science fiction film, Ph.D. students Elizabeth Beattie and Denise Wong hope these initial experiments with nano bio-robots will provide a platform for future medical and micro-engineering endeavors.

Credits Produced by Luke Groskin

Music by Audio Network

Footage ands Stills Provided by Elizabeth Beattie, Denise Wong and Edward Steager

Prelinger Archives, Quentin Lindsey, Daniel Mellinger

and Vijay Kumar, University of Pennsylvania’s GRASP Lab