Cyborg dragonfly spy takes to the sky for the first time

The program make a cyborg named Dragonfly has successful tied a small backpack equipped with electronics, sensors and a solar cell to a living insect – and it has taken to the skies for its maiden flight.

The DragonflEye is controlled by pulses of light sent through the pack to specific neurons in the brain, allowing remote control of the drone-like bug to guide pollination or explore areas that are unsuitable for humans.

Cyborg dragonfly was developed by researchers at Draper and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Research on Campus, which in January unveiled the first genetically modified insect.

' DragonflEye is a completely new kind of micro-aerial vehicle that is smaller, lighter and stealthier than anything else that is man-made, "said Jesse j. Wheeler, biomedical engineer at Draper and principal investigator on the program said earlier this year.

' This system pushes the boundaries of energy harvesting, motion sensing, algorithms, miniaturization and opto-genetics, all-in-one system small enough for an insectto carry. '

The team designed the backpack to act as the middle ground between the insect and the human controller.

Optegentic guidance tools send commands via the fingernail and medium pack special ' send ' neurons to the brain of the insect.

This allowed the neurons are activated by the light-sent by an interface in the backpack a optrode.

However, the researchers noted that the dragonfly neurons are affected is not damaged during the process, it delivers only the small creature with the ability to fly further and with more skill.

Someday these same tools can further medical treatments in humans, resulting in more effective therapies with fewer side effects, "said Wheeler.

' Our flexible optrode technology delivers a new solution enabling secure access tosmaller, scaled-down diagnostics neural goals and higher precision therapies. '

The neurons kicked than in the usual routine of sending signals to the wings in order to encourage the insect to fly.

The small solar panels were also tied up around the backpack harvest energy to power the drone-like system.

By adding this technique, instead of a battery, the Dragon fly not only fly further and longer, but it can also carry additional load.

Not only is this a breakthrough in technology, but the researchers believe that the cyborg dragonfly will soon be used for guided pollination, reconnaissance and even precision medicine and Diagnostics.