Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 25, 2026

Insect-machine Hybrid System: Remote Radio Control of a Freely Flying Beetle (Mercynorrhina torquata)
Published on: September 2, 2016
An implantable biofuel cell for a live insect
Michelle Rasmussen1, Roy E Ritzmann, Irene Lee
1Department of Chemistry, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
Abstract:
A biofuel cell incorporating a bienzymatic trehalase|glucose oxidase trehalose anode and a bilirubin oxidase dioxygen cathode using Os complexes grafted to a polymeric backbone as electron relays was designed and constructed. The specific power densities of the biofuel cell implanted in a female Blaberus discoidalis through incisions into its abdomen yielded maximum values of ca. 55 μW/cm(2) at 0.2 V that decreased by only ca. 5% after ca. 2.5 h of operation.
Related Concept Videos
Biofuels
iChip

