Lachlan Fitzgerald, a student at the University of Queensland, has his eyes fixated on a beetle through a microscope. As he watches it, he uses his deft hands to perform a surgery. Fear not; it doesn’t hurt the beetle. They have already been anesthetized with the help of an ice bath.
Voilà! Once the surgery is over, the beetle has a new circuit backpack that sends electrical signals to its antennae. It is like a small lease for the beetle, or more accurately, an insect biohybrid robot. Fitzgerald can send signals and control its movements using electric pulses. The bug remains agile all the while. However, Fitzgerald only uses it when the bug is heading in an undesired direction. The intervention helps the bug change its direction.
The idea can soon become a major asset to urban search and rescue operations in case of earthquakes or bombings. The agile and tiny beetles can easily navigate the rubble and debris in disaster zones. The other bug that has become the subject of this next-gen rescue army is the giant burrowing cockroach, which grows up to 3 inches long.
According to Lachlan, insects are much more adaptable, saving any rescue team the extra computational activities necessary while adapting to new scenarios. He also believes that the cyborg critters can deliver necessary drugs or can report the scenario to their operator quicker than any human rescuer. However, the team must master the movement mechanisms, which can take years, if not decades.
However, experiments involving living organisms raise questions about bioethics. As per Fitzgerald, the bugs have the usual life expectancy, and the backpacks don’t bother them much. Although concerned about the welfare of animals, his current stand considers the bigger picture: saving lives in disaster zones.
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