New Scientist Ovsianikov

The buckyball-shaped cages, which are 100 micrometres wide, are made by 3D-printing a plastic-like material.

The immature brain cells, obtained from mouse embryos, are forced into their prisons by placing a suspension of the cells over a layer of cages. As the cells descended due to gravity, Ovsianikov and his colleagues bombarded the suspension with sound waves to jostle the cells about. The sound waves were designed to produce quiet spots above the cages, causing the cells to tumble in.

Over the next seven days, the cells were nurtured in a dish to allow them to mature and grow out their branches. The team’s next step is to investigate if the cells can transmit electrical signals to each other.