As a representative of M.U.S.C.L.E., I find artificial muscles a bit unseemly. However, researchers at Duke University have been able to grow their own twitching tissue, a first that could allow researchers to test drugs on working muscle without damaging a live host.
From the release:
Interestingly there is no mention here of using these tiny bits of working muscle – muscle that twitches in response to electricity and responds to drugs just like regular human muscle – as replacements for lost musculature, which suggests the samples are still too small to be useful. However, this is the first time human-equivalent muscle has been grown in the lab and it looks like it will be a real boon for researchers trying to figure out the effects of various diseases and drugs on the body. That said, I fully intend to eventually embed huge chunks of artificial muscle into my body and walk around looking like the Hulk.