Cyborg Tadpoles with Neural Implants

Though the organoid studies were successful, integrating nanoelectronics into amphibian embryos posed new challenges, according to Liu. “It turns out tadpole embryos are much softer than human stem cell-derived tissue,” he said. “We ultimately had to change everything, including developing new electronic materials.”

The researchers made a new type of implant out of fluorinated elastomers, which are as soft as biological tissue but can be engineered into highly resilient electronic components that can withstand nanofabrication processes and house multiple sensors for recording brain activity.

The fluorinated elastomer, called perfluoropolyether-dimethacrylate, is intellectual property protected by Harvard’s Office of Technology Development, which licensed the technology to the start-up company Axoft for further development. Liu co-founded Axoft in 2021, and the company is focused on development of scalable, soft bioelectronics for brain-machine interface applications.

The study’s first author is Harvard postdoctoral fellow Hao Sheng. Co-authors were Ren Liu, Qiang Li, Zuwan Lin, Yichun He, Thomas S. Blum, Hao Zhao, Xin Tang, Wenbo Wang, Lishuai Jin, Zheliang Wang, Emma Hsiao, Paul Le Floch, Hao Shen, Ariel J. Lee, Rachael Alice Jonas-Closs, James Briggs, Siyi Liu, Daniel Solomon, Xiao Wang, Jessica L. Whited, and Nanshu Lu.

The research received federal support from the National Institutes of Health / National Institutes of Mental Health under grant No. 1RF1MH123948; the National Science Foundation / Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation under grant No. 2422348; and the National Institutes of Health / National Institute of Child Health and Human Development under grant No. 1R01HD115272.