Since their discovery in the 1970s, scientists have developed a strong interested for magnetotactic bacteria, an intriguing microorganism that moves along the magnetic field lines due the magnetite particles they grow in their body. How this property can be used to induce collective behavior and create a microscopic engine? This is the work done by a team of researchers from the PMMH Laboratory (ESPCI Paris -PSL, Sorbonne University, CNRS) in collaboration with researchers from the FAST laboratory in Orsay and the University of Chile. In their study, published in the journal Nature Communications, they managed to create reversible vortices in drops filled with these bacteria when subjected to a magnetic field.
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Source: Phys.org