Towards Bacterial Microfactories

Our group demonstrated experimentally that the swimming paths of Magnetotactic Bacteria (MTB) could be controlled through special microelectronic circuits and software algorithms. These results may lead to the development of a new type of microfactories where manipulation at the micrometer-scale could be performed by many MTB operating under the influences of special control rules. As such, a special integrated microelectronic circuit designed specifically to embed MTB and to control their swimming directions, has been developed. The orientation of the MTB are controlled by inducing a torque on a chain of small particles named magnetosomes, acting as a compass embedded in each bacterium. Such torque is achieved by circulating a small electrical current through selected conductors in the microcircuit in order to use the motility of the bacteria to push micro-objects towards desired locations. The microcircuit containing both the bacteria and the micro-objects being manipulated are placed under an optical microscope to provide information that are processed and fed back to the microcircuit to activate specific conductors in order to achieve optimal coordination and control of the MTB. Our initial proof-of-concept where MTB are pushing microbeads under computer control suggests that the use of biological components such as bacteria could play a major role and influence the development of future microfactories dedicated to specific ranges of applications. Index Terms Magnetotactic bacteria, microfactories, microelectronic circuit, micromanipulation.