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The result was a “medusoid”—a simple artificial creature composed of heart muscle cells overlaid on a sheet of silicone molded into a shallow cup rimmed with flaps.

Successfully quilting a working medusoid genome that codes for a hodgepodge of rat heart cells and light-sensitive neurons is beyond current capabilities.

Parker’s lab works on creating artificial models of human heart tissues for regenerating organs and testing drugs, and the team built the medusoid as a way of understanding the “fundamental laws of muscular pumps”.

Less than 1 cm in size, the medusoid has eight lobes, powered by rat heart muscle cells that make them swim like the jellyfish they were modeled after.

In certain hydroids, an imperfect zooid, whose special function is to produce medusoid buds.