According to Science Daily, a group of engineers created microscopic propulsion systems, applying silicon oxide to bacterial flagella. The received mechanisms work at the expense of magnetic fields and, from the point of view of functionality, are not inferior to their natural prototypes. The development of nanorobots, which have long taken a firm place in science fiction, is in fact hampered by the lack of inexpensive propulsion systems for them. For the first time using bacterial flagella as a template, researchers were able to step closer to solving this problem. The laws of motion in the nanomir differ significantly from those we are accustomed to, especially in a liquid medium. Decreasing to the size of a bacterium, we could not move in water, but microorganisms, using spiral flagella, can easily cope with this task. Researchers have long been trying to copy these natural propeller engines, but previously this involved laborious and very expensive techniques.

Instead, the team of engineers used a radically new approach. At first they cultivated Salmonella typhimurium bacteria, after which they removed and fixed flagella. The flagellum proteins were then coated with silicon oxide and nickel (metal was needed to make the helices manageable by magnetic fields). Tests of tiny engines were successful - similar to natural analogs, they overcame 22 micrometers within 2 seconds, which is 4 times longer than their length.

Article: Bacteria can help in creating nanorobots.