经济学人下载:科技创新 人造水母水中游

Science and Technology
科技

A synthetic jellyfish that swims
人造水母水中游

Meet Medusoid, a bioengineered artificial jellyfish created by researchers at the California Institute of Technology and Harvard University.
这就是梅多索依德，一个通过生物工程技术制得的人工水母，他由来自加利福利亚理工学院和哈佛大学的研究者亲手打造。

Less than a centimetre in diameter, it was made by printing a pattern of protein onto a silicone base.
通过在硅树脂的基底上涂刷某种特定蛋白质制作而成的他，直径不足一厘米。

This pattern acted as a map on which cells from the heart muscle of a rat were grown.
这种特定蛋白质就好像是一张地图，在其表面上附着着生长好的老鼠心肌细胞。

When set free in a container of seawater, the muscles could be jolted into action with a small electric charge to produce synchronised contractions, allowing Medusoid to swim.
当我们将放入装有盐水的容器中，那些肌肉细胞在小电荷产生的同步收缩作用下，上下摆动，梅多索依德便会游动起来。

The work, reported in Nature Biotechnology, was carried out to study the pumping action of muscles, which could be used to help design better artificial hearts.
《生物科技进展》关于本项目的报道中指出，该项成果成功地研究了肌肉的抽吸作用，这有助于我们研制出更好的人工心脏。