[INFORMATIVE] When Tech Mimics Nature: The "Discovery" of Biological Motors

When Tech Mimics Nature: The "Discovery" of Biological Motors

By: Sidharth Sanegepalli

At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, our society’s scientific focus was centered around energy. How to generate it, how to modify it to meet our needs, and how to use it most efficiently. Initially, we burned coal and heated steam to power our machines. Later, we extracted oil from the earth to power our cars. Now, we harness the energy of the sun, wind, and atoms to heat our homes.Throughout all of this, however, humanity must convert this energy into a usable current. For almost 200 years, we have been doing this, thanks to the DC motor. The DC (direct current) motor was invented in 1886 by William Sturgeon (MSI). Since then, this motor has been one of the most efficient methods for turning energy (from various sources) into a usable mechanical force. If all the discoveries that humanity had made from the beginning of time were ranked, fire would be the first, but the DC motor would be a close second.

Many cells have a hairlike appendage that they use to propel themselves across distances to achieve a certain goal, which is known as the flagellum. Flagella most commonly occur on the gametes of many organisms, and many bacteria perform locomotion via their flagellum. In this way, both the DC motors and the flagella are similar in their intended goals. The similarities do not stop there, however, as both functions in eerily analogous ways. A DC motor generates force using the attraction and repulsion forces of electromagnets to create rotational motion, which is known as torque. Just like that, the motor device of the flagellum rotates the whip-like filament at the end of the flagellum to push it through whatever it currently resides in (usually some form of liquid). While we know that flagella acts suspiciously like DC motors, these are where the similarities between both seem to end.

Recently, however, a collection of discoveries has been made that bridge the gap between them even further.Researchers at Vanderbilt University have reportedly opened up a flagellar motor of Salmonella Typhimurium and examined the rings that drive its locomotion. These rings, known as the L, P, MS, and C rings in most flagella, appear suspiciously like the magnets that circle a standard DC motor. What is significant about this flagellum, however, is that, unlike others, it can change the direction of their rotation. Most flagella can spin in only one direction, clockwise or counterclockwise.However, the flagellum of Salmonella Typhimurium canswitch directions as desired, making it much more efficient than other flagella and even more similar to a standard DC motor.

While the flagellum was discovered in the late 1600s, there are no historical records indicating that Sturgeon was inspired by its motor mechanism when designing his prototype of the DC motor. Therefore, one must conclude that both humanity and evolution independently arrived at the same idea. This connection is not an isolated instance; evidence suggests that humanity and nature have independently developed similar concepts numerous times throughout history. One notable example is the World Wide Web, the platform on which you are reading this article. The Internet functions as a neural network, utilizing interconnected units to transfer information from one point to another. Coincidentally, this process closely resembles the functioning of the human brain. Information is relayed from one “node” (sections of the brain) to another via “connected units” (electrical signals sent along neurons and synapses). Although the discovery of neurons occurred in 1983, it was too recent to have directly inspired the design of the Internet. Jonathan Suen states, “...biological neural networks utilized the same algorithms as their engineered counterparts [the Internet]…the requirements for efficiency, robustness, and simplicity are common to both living organisms and the networks we have built” (Salk News). This conclusion that most agree with. This neural network system just happens to be the most efficient way to transmit information, which evolution discovered after millions of years of trial and error, and we discovered, thanks to the advantages provided by our brains.

Another example of independent development is the evolution of echolocation and sonar. Due to their sensitive vision and nocturnality, bats, collectively as an order, developed echolocation, in which they emit sounds and analyze the echoes that return to them to see how close an object is. The same adaptation has been developed by dolphins and whales, partly due to sound traveling much faster in water than air and partly due to how difficult it is to see long distances while underwater. On the human side of things, SONAR (Sound Navigation and Ranging) was originally invented to assist marine vessels, such as ships and submarines, in navigating waterways. During World War I, this technology was further developed to locate enemy vessels and was later applied to oceanographic research. Sonar was invented in 1906 by Lewis Nixon, while the term “echolocation” to describe the phenomenon was coined much later, by Donald Griffin in 1944. Echolocation and sonar were discovered and created at different times, meaning the former could not have inspired the latter.

This connection between technology and nature is vital for humanity to realize, as it suggests that technology is reaching a critical stage. Bacteria, as a whole, have existed for billions of years. Due to the nature of evolution, bacteria has become as efficient and capable as can be. To find that an engineer’s invention in the late 1800s is on par in design suggests that we are reaching a “great filter” when it comes to technology and how far it can increase. After all, how can we improve on a design more than 3.5 billion years of constant engineering has?

To explore the “great filter” idea, many believe that artificial intelligence is the final step in the great filter and will be the last, most technologically advanced thing that humanity will create. If we compare this to the trend of design and evolution on Earth, this tracks. What has nature created that is more advanced than the human brain than human consciousness?

Thankfully, we do not seem to be nearing this filter anytime soon. Chat GPT, one of our most advanced “AIs,” is still a generative artificial intelligence, meaning that it spits out whatever is more likely to be said in response to a question, not what makes sense. It is nowhere near conscious in all definitions, though the field is ardently working towards that goal. However, in the meantime we should most probably check inside our brains to see if there are any tiny computers hidden in there.


Works Cited
Prashant K. Singh, Pankaj Sharma, Oshri Afanzar, Margo H. Goldfarb, Elena Maklashina, Michael Eisenbach, Gary Cecchini, & T. M. Iverson. CryoEM structures reveal how the bacterial flagellum rotates and switches direction. Nature Microbiology, 04-17-24, Accessed 09-17-24, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-024-01674-1

Motor Specialty Incorporated. A Brief History of D.C Motors. Motor Speciality Incorporated, 05-20-21, Accessed 09-17-24, https://motorspecialty.com/news/a-brief-history-of-dc-motors/
Salk News. The Internet and Your Brain Are More Likely Than You Think. Salk News, 02-9-17, Accessed 09-17-24, https://www.salk.edu/news-release/internet-brain-alike-think/