MIT's Tangible Media Group, part of MIT Media Lab, has a project called bioLogic that is working on growing actuators rather than manufacturing them:
The roots of their research can be dated back to the past with the discovery of a bacteria Bacillus subtilis natto; the microorganism lived inside dry rice stalks and were in turn woven into bags for soybeans .
This bacteria became an established fermentation tool for the preparation of nattō, a soybean-based dish in Japan.
Now they are using the bacteria in a new way—it becomes a nanoactuator that expands and shrinks based on atmospheric moisture or the sweat of the skin. As Gizmodo wrote, the team was interested in the possibilities: "if natto's expansion and contraction could be carefully calibrated, perhaps it could act more like a machine than an unpredictable organism. Perhaps it could act more like an actuator."
Natto's key feature as a food is a slimy mucus drooled over rice. Perhaps that will be more pleasant to wear than eat.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Monday November 02 2015, @06:15PM
What applications does that have that a strictly mechanical actuator managed by electricity couldn't solve?
In the absence of electricity, all of them!