Researchers are experimenting with creating tiny, self-powered remote-controlled animal/machine hybrids as an alternative to tiny robots, starting with snails and cockroaches.

They poke two electrodes coated with enzymes through the shell of the snail into a space between the shell and the body, where glucose is present, produced by the snail for its own biological purposes.

The enzymes promote chemical reactions that produce electricity drawn from glucose molecules.

DARPA has a related research program into Hybrid Insect Micro Electromechanical Systems, one goal of which is to uncover new ways “to harness the natural sensors and power generation of insects.”

So The Matrix was right — at least for tiny creatures? — Ed.