Cyborg tadpoles with soft flexible neural implants
Brain implantation of soft bioelectronics via embryonic development.
Nature 2025 Jun 11; doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09106-8.
Hao Sheng, 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, Nanshu Lu & Jia Liu
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Abstract
Developing bioelectronics capable of stably tracking brain-wide, single-cell, millisecond-resolved neural activity in the developing brain is critical for advancing neuroscience and understanding neurodevelopmental disorders. During development, the three-dimensional structure of the vertebrate brain arises from a two-dimensional neural plate1,2. These large morphological changes have previously posed a challenge for implantable bioelectronics to reliably track neural activity throughout brain development3-9. Here we introduce a tissue-level-soft, submicrometre-thick mesh microelectrode array that integrates into the embryonic neural plate by leveraging the tissue's natural two-dimensional-to-three-dimensional reconfiguration. As organogenesis progresses, the mesh deforms, stretches and distributes throughout the brain, seamlessly integrating with neural tissue. Immunostaining, gene expression analysis and behavioural testing confirm no adverse effects on brain development or function. This embedded electrode array enables long-term, stable mapping of how single-neuron activity and population dynamics emerge and evolve during brain development. In axolotl models, it not only records neural electrical activity during regeneration but also modulates the process through electrical stimulation.
The new bioelectronic probe is the outcome of years of dedicated work and can provide valuable data on the embryos as they mature. (Image credit: Liu Lab/Harvard SEAS)
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From the Harvard John A Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences:
Cyborg tadpoles with soft flexible neural implants: Thin electrode arrays integrate seamlessly into developing embryos’ brains
https://seas.harvard.edu/news/2025/06/cyborg-tadpoles-soft-flexible-neural-implants
From IFL Science:
“Cyborg Tadpoles” With Brain Implants Could Help Solve Mysteries Of Neurodevelopmental Disease: The process is minimally invasive and offers stable ways to monitor brains as they develop.
https://www.iflscience.com/cyborg-tadpoles-with-brain-implants-could-help-solve-mysteries-of-neurodevelopmental-disease-79599
Adapted from Springer Nature on behalf of Nature: Sheng et al. (2025). Brain implantation of soft bioelectronics via embryonic development. Nature 2025 Jun 11; doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09106-8.