James Bond’s next superbug

RESEARCHERS have shown off a ‘cyborg’ cockroach they can control remotely. The team have been able to accurately steer it to follow complex shapes on the ground. Now they hope to fit it with video cameras and other sensors, so it can crawl into buildings undetected, and even search earthquakes for survivors. The new technique developed by Bozkurt’s team works by embedding a low-cost, light-weight, commercially-available chip with a wireless receiver and transmitter onto each Madagascar hissing cockroach. Weighing 0.7 grams, the cockroach backpack also contains a microcontroller that monitors the interface between the implanted electrodes and the tissue to avoid potential neural damage. The microcontroller is wired to the roach’s antennae and cerci.