Rice University researchers first uncovered the genetic engineering of flies to be able to control them remotely. Scientists, who created a special heat-sensitive ion channel in some neurons of the flies, activated the ion channel, allowing the fly to open its wings.
As a heat trigger, the scientists injected nanoparticles containing iron oxide into the brains of the flies. The researchers, who created a magnetic field near the flies, heated the particles thanks to this magnetic field, causing the neurons to heat up and causing the flies to pose as spreading wings.
The solution to muscle immobility comes from nature
To test the system they created, the researchers kept the engineered flies in a small section above a magnetic coil and observed that the flies opened their wings in about half a second when the magnetic field was created.
What are the scientists aiming at at the end of this study?
“To study the brain or treat neurological disorders, the scientific community is looking for tools that are both incredibly precise and minimal,” said study co-author Jacob Robinson. because it increases the speed of remote magnetic control, bringing it closer to the natural speed of the brain,” he said.
The scientists emphasized that the aim of this study is to give patients with visual impairments some vision. DARPA (US Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), which is the financing of the project, is thought to have different plans. It is stated that DARPA wants to develop a system that can read the neural activity in one person’s brain and then write it to another brain, basically transferring thoughts or perceptions between people.