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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.
這就是梅多索依德，一個通過生物工程技術制得的人工水母，他由來自加利福利亞理工學院和哈佛大學的研究者親手打造。
Less than a centimetre in diameter, it was made by printing a pattern of protein onto a silicone base.
通過在硅樹脂的基底上涂刷某種特定蛋白質制作而成的他，直徑不足一厘米。
This pattern acted as a map on which cells from the heart muscle of a rat were grown.
這種特定蛋白質就好像是一張地圖，在其表面上附著著生長好的老鼠心肌細胞。
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.
當我們將放入裝有鹽水的容器中，那些肌肉細胞在小電荷產生的同步收縮作用下，上下擺動，梅多索依德便會游動起來。
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.
《生物科技進展》關于本項目的報道中指出，該項成果成功地研究了肌肉的抽吸作用，這有助于我們研制出更好的人工心臟。
