Living robot swarms built from algae can split, merge, and target wounds with light

Researchers built living microrobot swarms from microalgae and nanoparticles that can be assembled into custom shapes with blue light and dispersed with red light.

In a demo, an AI-assisted wound treatment setup placed drug-carrying swarms onto wound-like areas on artificial skin using medical tape.

The biohybrid platform, described in Science Advances, points to a future of light-guided, precisely targeted delivery to wounds or other tissues.