GOOD SCIENCE
GUT CHECKER: The wave-like crawl of a worm may be an ideal way for a robot (or a worm) to navigate through an intestinal tract.
BIRGIT FERGUSON/EYEEM/GETTY; DAVID ZARROUK/BIOINSPIRED AND MEDICAL ROBOTICS LABORATORY/BEN GURION UNIVERSITY
THE U.S. CENTERS for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that some 23 million Americans have not been screened for colorectal cancer—and should be. A colonoscopy can catch cancer early, but people often do whatever they can to avoid the test because it’s not a fun experience. But that may change thanks to inchworms, wiggling bacterial organisms and snakes. David Zarrouk, a professor of mechanical engineering at Ben-Gurion University in Israel, is developing a robot that will crawl through the intestinal tract, mimicking the locomotion of these creatures, in particular the wave-like crawl. This could make colonoscopies and endoscopies less invasive, eliminate the need for anesthesia and make cancer screening kind of cool.