title: Phototactic guidance of a tissue-engineered soft-robotic ray.
abstract: Inspired by the relatively simple morphological blueprint provided by batoid fish such as stingrays and skates, we created a biohybrid system that enables an artificial animal--a tissue-engineered ray--to swim and phototactically follow a light cue. By patterning dissociated rat cardiomyocytes on an elastomeric body enclosing a microfabricated gold skeleton, we replicated fish morphology at 1/10 scale and captured basic fin deflection patterns of batoid fish. Optogenetics allows for phototactic guidance, steering, and turning maneuvers. Optical stimulation induced sequential muscle activation via serpentine-patterned muscle circuits, leading to coordinated undulatory swimming. The speed and direction of the ray was controlled by modulating light frequency and by independently eliciting right and left fins, allowing the biohybrid machine to maneuver through an obstacle course.
authors.affiliation: Disease Biophysics Group, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Sung-Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Mattia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gazzola
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Sogang University, Seoul 121-742, Korea. Sogang-Harvard Research Center for Disease Biophysics, Sogang University, Seoul 121-742, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung Soo
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Shirley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Di Santo
authors.affiliation: Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Erin L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Blevins
authors.affiliation: Disease Biophysics Group, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Johan U
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Lind
authors.affiliation: Disease Biophysics Group, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Patrick H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.affiliation: Disease Biophysics Group, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dauth
authors.affiliation: Disease Biophysics Group, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Capulli
authors.affiliation: Disease Biophysics Group, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Francesco S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Pasqualini
authors.affiliation: Disease Biophysics Group, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Seungkuk
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Disease Biophysics Group, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Disease Biophysics Group, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Hongyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Disease Biophysics Group, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Ben M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Maoz
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Ragu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vijaykumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Sogang University, Seoul 121-742, Korea. Sogang-Harvard Research Center for Disease Biophysics, Sogang University, Seoul 121-742, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong-Woo
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Deisseroth
authors.affiliation: Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: George V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Lauder
authors.affiliation: John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Physics, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Kavli Institute for Nanobio Science and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138S, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mahadevan
authors.affiliation: Disease Biophysics Group, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Sogang-Harvard Research Center for Disease Biophysics, Sogang University, Seoul 121-742, Korea. kkparker@seas.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Kevin Kit
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Parker
mesh_terms: D058500:Animal Fins / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D003463:Cues; D008027:Light; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology; D062308:Optogenetics; D012371:Robotics; D012860:Skates, Fish / Q000502:physiology*; D013550:Swimming / Q000502:physiology*; D023822:Tissue Engineering