Scientists have found a new way to utilize robots in the laboratory. This time, they will have to smoke as many cigarettes as they can everyday.
This AI machine is designed to uphold human procedures in the laboratory by avoiding the usage of laboratory animals. This experiment will also assist Harvard's Wyss Institute in acquiring further understanding chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD lands at the third position in the list of diseases causing death in the United States. Its primary cause is smoking but it may also be caused by chemical fumes or dust.
Individuals with COPD suffer from chest tightness, coughing, and other infections of the lungs. Many people also fail to diagnose the disease at an early stage.
To examine the functioning of the lungs, the researchers from Harvard use robots that are installed with tubes that work like the organ. These machines also have chips that contain lung cells collected from humans who are healthy and those suffering from the disease. The goal is to discover how different cells would react to cigarette smoke. The AI machines used in the study also adopt a mechanism that looks like a gun arrangement loaded with a dozen of cigars that are lighted up in different frequencies and intensities.
During the study, it was observed that during inhalation, smokes pass through the tubes and chips resulting in the production of cilia and mucus. It was found out that lungs with COPD are more prone to an inflammatory response. Further, the movement of cilia in unhealthy lungs is irregular and distorted thus making the hairlike structure fail to remove the mucus filling the organ.
Donald Ingber, one of the creators of the robots and director of the institute, said that "the cigarette smoke essentially interferes with their oriented cleansing motion, so you get distorted motion." These findings suggest that the key treatment for the disease may be related to the cilia.
To confirm the findings, the Robots have to remain in the laboratory and act like lab rats to establish an effective treatment for COPD.