Droplet microrobotic structures for compartmentalised biochemistry and organoid engineering

Droplet microrobotic structures for compartmentalised biochemistry and organoid engineering | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Physical Sciences - Article Droplet microrobotic structures for compartmentalised biochemistry and organoid engineering Jin Li, William Jamieson, Yigang Shen, Matthew Colborne, Hongdi Wang, and 14 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6108499/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Microrobotic structures formed from liquid materials offer certain advantages of reconfigurability and biochemical compatibility at microscopic scales. Here, we use electrothermally driven flow dynamics to prepare single or multi-unit reconfigurable liquid droplet microrobotic structures with diverse cytomimetic properties. The microrobotic structures are constructed by the integrated assembly of precision-eluted lipid-coated water-in-oil emulsions, engineered with transmembrane protein-based pores and mechanosensitive channels, and augmented with encapsulated plasmids, active nanoparticles and brain organoids. The reconfigurable nature of the microrobotic structure is enabled by electrically conductive, liquid-based microfluidic circuits and electrodes. Specifically, we program thermal convectional flows to control droplet navigation, spatial assembly and actuation in fluidic environments. The droplet microrobot structures exhibit a range of cytomimetic properties, including, signal-mediated transcription/translation (RNA/protein synthesis), transmembrane-mediated chemical communication, autonomous environmental sensing and inter-droplet membrane fusion and integration. The latter process is employed to deliver biochemical reagents and quantum dots into human brain organoids housed within the droplet microrobotic structures as a step towards on-site tissue engineering and biohybrid robots. Our results demonstrate that thermotactic synthetic cells can be spatially organised into programmable multi-unit structures with potential applications in bioengineering, sensing and targeted delivery. Physical sciences/Engineering/Chemical engineering Physical sciences/Chemistry/Chemical biology Biological sciences/Biochemistry/Biophysical chemistry Physical sciences/Physics/Fluid dynamics Physical sciences/Engineering/Electrical and electronic engineering Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SI.docx Supplementary information supplementaryvideo.mp4 Supplementary video Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6108499","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Physical Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":426968792,"identity":"d8ed0076-2e50-40dd-bed8-5d6f5d2c165d","order_by":0,"name":"Jin 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