University of Queensland researcher reveals 'cyborg' insect technology
Thang Vo-Doan says these cyborg insects could be saving lives in five to 10 years. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)
In short:
Scientists have developed technology that can control the movement of insects.
Than Vo-Doan says this technology could save human lives within the next 10 years.
What's next?
The University of Queensland will publish its findings early next year.
With the press of a button, Thang Vo-Doan can make a beetle walk up, down, left, right, and climb walls like a video game character.
The University of Queensland researcher is one of the scientists creating "cyborg" insects that can be controlled with microchips strapped to their backs.
The microchip has electrodes connected to the insect's nervous system, capable of stimulating the insect's sense of touch and controlling its movements.
The UQ Biorobotics lab director said scientists expected to have a peer-reviewed paper on the technology published in January or February.
The ABC has witnessed the technology in action.
Cyborg beetles coming soon
Dr Vo-Doan said the technology was advancing rapidly and could be used to save lives.
Thang Vo-Doan says scientists don't have a clear picture of why insect populations are dwindling. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)
"In the future we can imagine a hundred or thousand insects swarming around a collapsed building, every one of them with a camera or sensor," Dr Vo-Doan said.
"We could have a mass, living, wireless network that can detect and inform the first responders the position of the victim so we can save more lives more quickly.
"For real life applications for search and rescue we cannot say it will be tomorrow, the timeline will be the next five or 10 years — but the progress is very good now."
Scientists believe these beetles could help create life-saving robots. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)
He said the technology could in principle be used to control higher-order mammals, but his lab worked on insects because there were no ethical regulations.
Can insects feel pain?
LaTrobe University animal ethics senior coordinator Mukesh Raipuria said insects were not included in Australia's animal research ethics regulations.
Dr Raipuria said there was no clear-cut scientific consensus as to whether insects had the capacity to suffer in the same way that humans do.
"This is an ongoing topic of debate," Dr Raipuria said.
"Insects have nervous systems which allow them to detect and respond to harmful stimuli, but whether this constitutes pain in the same way that humans experience, it is not conclusively determined."
In addition to "hybrid insect" technology, Dr Vo-Doan said the lab was working on fully mechanical insect-like robots.
Fast Lock-On can capture a bee's minute body movements down to the individual wing flap. (Supplied: Thang Vo-Doan)
Dr Vo-Doan has co-developed Fast Lock-On technology, which can precisely track a flying insect's wing, head and eye movements.
The lecturer said this biomechanical data would allow the robots to mimic the movements and behaviours of real bees and other insects.
Additionally, Dr Vo-Doan said this tracker could help scientists figure out why insect numbers were on the decline globally.
"We've observed that the body mass of insects are declining over time, and there's a lot of speculation about climate change, pollution, pesticide use, but we're not clear about how they affect the insects," he said.
"We might be able to think about the strategies to improve the situation or even recover the insect population, especially those that pollinate our crops."