Cyborg cockroaches teach neuroscience at Marquette University
By Mallory Anderson
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MILWAUKEE (WISN) — Cyborg cockroaches equipped with Bluetooth backpacks are being used at Marquette University to teach neuroscience to students.
In the upper-level biology course, students and staff utilize a product called the Roboroach created by Backyard Brains, a Midwest company that specializes in educational science tools and lessons.
“The Roboroach is an activity that we can do in neuroscience to try to understand how the nervous system actually creates behavior,” said Chelsea Cook, an assistant professor in biological sciences at Marquette University.
The Roboroach taps into the basics of how neurons communicate with each other inside the body through microscopic electrical currents. Bluetooth backpacks are put on real, live cockroaches. From there, the backpacks stimulate the antenna nerves on the roaches, and through a phone app, students can briefly control the left and right movement of the bugs.
“I was definitely surprised,” said Oliver Lee, a sophomore student in the class. “You know, I don’t have much experience with cockroaches. I was kind of excited, though. Seems like a fun time.”
The technology used in the Roboroach is the same as that in electronic devices like prosthetic limbs and cochlear implants to improve hearing.
“A lot of these students are planning on going into health professions,” Cook said. “So, many of these students will be our doctors, dentists, physician’s assistants, nurses that will apply some of the principles that we use today in their jobs and in their treatments of us later.”
Despite initial hesitation from some students, such as Monica Stinson-Hernandez, who said, “So, I hate roaches. I hate bugs,” the experience was still seen as invaluable.
Stinson-Hernandez added, “I feel like getting the hands-on experience and doing the little tiny details with the wires and forceps really help me in the future, either in research or if I decide to go to grad school.”
The experiment does not harm the cockroaches, as they behave normally once the backpack is removed, and the electrical currents are not painful.
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