When reading the title, you’d almost think I was going to explain something from a spy movie. A tiny device, as big as a bug, flying or crawling into holes or spaces too small for humans or trained animals, performing tasks, filming things. Except, this is not a spy movie. This is reality. As crazy as it might sound, these so-called cyborg insects actually exist.
Actually, the idea for cyborg-insects dates back to 2006, when the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) asked scientists if they could come up with ideas to make these futuristic sounding creatures (Anthes, 2013). The idea to turn insects into cyborgs is way more efficient than creating actual devices, since such a device has a great limitation: the battery. One company created such a device, but this device can only stay in the air for three minutes and has a wingspan of 10cm. But an insect basically runs on food. Secondly, when using insects, you do not have to re-invent the wheel: insects are the result of millions of years of evolution. You just have to find a way to control them.
In 2009, scientist Michel Maharbiz from the University of California, succeeded in creating a remote controlled beetle. Electrical simulation of the beetle’s nerves was used to make the beetle fly. However, they still had a challenge at hand: steering. In 2015, they managed to find the nerves that control steering and made the beetles go left and right when flying.
Today, we even got to the point where we, as consumers, can create our own (crawling, non-flying) cyborg insect. For just $100, you can order a DIY ‘RoboRoach’ kit, with tools to turn a cockroach into a smartphone-controlled cyborg. You just apply the microchip to the nerves of the cockroach, and it walks the way you want. The best part: this is just a 20-minute task.
Looking to the possibilities, this sounds great. However, how ethical is it? First of all, you’re putting electronics in animals and using electrodes to control them. Secondly, does this open the door to research on bigger animals, even humans? Who says humans can’t be controlled the way these beetles can be controlled? What do you think?
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/feb/17/race-to-create-insect-cyborgs
http://www.delfly.nl/micro.htmlhttps://www.wired.com/2015/03/watch-flying-remote-controlled-cyborg-bug/
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-12/how-build-your-own-cockroach-cyborg
Hi Gaston, I got goose bumps by reading your article. I had no idea whatsoever that this could be possible, and it even exists! This is not something to mess with! Putting electronics in animals and using electrodes to control them is not ethical at all! Is it really as easy as you say? If we keep doing this, I think it’s only a matter of time to ‘experiment’ this on criminals or other people.