Cell Trainer teaches cells to respond to chemical pulses and adjusts stimulation through feedback

Cell Trainer teaches cells to respond to chemical pulses and adjusts stimulation through feedback

On 13 August 2026, researchers at Tufts University and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University presented Cell Trainer, an open-source system. It delivers precisely controlled pulses of chemicals to cells, measures their responses using fluorescent molecular sensors, and adjusts the next pulse when necessary.

Cell cultures are usually controlled from the bottom up by switching off genes, altering intracellular signaling pathways, or administering constant drug doses. Cells can adapt to these interventions by activating alternative metabolic pathways, developing drug resistance, or silencing an inserted gene. In March, Michael Levin said that physiology lacks tools that account for timing and feedback. Cell Trainer uses this same capacity for adaptation by delivering a series of stimuli and tracking how the cellular response changes.

In a preprint, Patrick Erickson, Michael Levin, and their colleagues described a system consisting of a plate with four separate cell chambers and an automated inverted microscope. Solutions flow through narrow channels in the plate while the microscope moves beneath it. The plate itself remains stationary. This design allows the system to observe cells in several chambers in sequence without moving the culture with the fluid flow.

In the scheduled mode, the authors exposed muscle precursor cells, or myoblasts, to repeated two-minute pulses of dimethyl sulfoxide. A fluorescent sensor measured the calcium concentration inside each cell. The calcium response increased from one series to the next, meaning that repeated stimulation produced a more pronounced response.

In the second experiment, the system operated with feedback control. Fibroblasts, which are connective tissue cells, from rat kidney expressed a fluorescent sensor of cell membrane state and acidity. The program processed each image in less than a second. When the signal intensity rose above a predefined threshold, the system delivered an acidic medium for 30 seconds. This returned the measured value to the specified range.

The authors released the optical module designs, hardware schematics, and software code. Cell Trainer gives laboratories a reproducible way to conduct cell culture experiments that require repeated stimulation, response measurement, and testing whether a cell's physiological state can be deliberately altered.