MIT builds a paper-thin robot powered by living muscle

What happened

The team grew a single layer of genetically engineered skeletal muscle cells on a half-millimeter gel film. In a petri-dish test, researchers manually moved a light source to guide the robot through a simple maze; MIT reports a top speed of about four body lengths per minute.

Why it matters

The work shows that a very thin biohybrid actuator can generate enough force for controlled locomotion. It remains a manually guided laboratory prototype, not an autonomous environmental robot, clinical device or commercial system.

Source checked October 31, 2026. Status describes the evidence in the linked source at the time of review.