By combining rat tissue and silicone, researchers have engineered a device that mimics the movements of jellyfish. Kevin Kit Parker at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, John Dabiri at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and their colleagues used computer imaging and tissue experiments to characterize the muscular structure of jellyfish (pictured top) and the motion — a quick contraction and slow recoil — that the animals use to feed and to propel themselves through water. By growing rat heart-muscle cells on a flexible silicone frame, the team then built a pump (bottom) capable of mimicking jellyfish shape, movement and fluid dynamics.
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