Engineered Living Materials: Taxonomies and Emerging Trends

Srubar, Wil V.

doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2020.10.009

Cited by 73 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…[7] More recently, cells have also been engineered to produce functional materials directly and/or modulate their properties, which has led to the emergence of the new field of engineered living materials (ELMs). [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Early examples of ELMs demonstrated binding to synthetic materials (e.g., stainless steel), templating nanoparticles (e.g., gold), and immobilizing enzymes (e.g., amylase). [15,16] Additional work has focused on ELMs that function as catalytic surfaces, filtration membranes, under-water adhesives, pressure sensors, conductive films, gut adhesives, etc.…”

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confidence: 99%

Robust Self‐Regeneratable Stiff Living Materials Fabricated from Microbial Cells

Manjula-Basavanna

Duraj-Thatte

Joshi

2021

Adv Funct Materials

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Living systems have not only the exemplary capability to fabricate materials (e.g., wood, bone) under ambient conditions but they also consist of living cells that imbue them with properties like growth and self‐regeneration. Like a seed that can grow into a sturdy living wood, can living cells alone serve as the primary building block to fabricate stiff materials? Here is reported the fabrication of stiff living materials (SLMs) produced entirely from microbial cells, without the incorporation of any structural biopolymers (e.g., cellulose, chitin, collagen) or biominerals (e.g., hydroxyapatite, calcium carbonate) that are known to impart stiffness to biological materials. Remarkably, SLMs are also lightweight, strong, and resistant to organic solvents and can self‐regenerate. This living materials technology can serve as a powerful biomanufacturing platform to design and develop advanced structural and cellular materials in a sustainable manner.

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confidence: 99%

Robust Self‐Regeneratable Stiff Living Materials Fabricated from Microbial Cells

Manjula-Basavanna

Duraj-Thatte

Joshi

2021

Adv Funct Materials

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“…T he design of cells capable of producing self-organizing, biocomposite materials has the potential to enable the fabrication of new types of functional living materials with the ability of self-fabrication and self-repair. Engineered living materials (ELMs) are therefore a new and fast-growing area of research that combines approaches in synthetic biology and material sciences [1][2][3][4] . The fabrication of most ELMs, however, has so far largely relied on physical methods for incorporating a living component in an external material [4][5][6][7] .…”

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Engineering Bacillus subtilis for the formation of a durable living biocomposite material

et al. 2021

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Engineered living materials (ELMs) are a fast-growing area of research that combine approaches in synthetic biology and material science. Here, we engineer B. subtilis to become a living component of a silica material composed of self-assembling protein scaffolds for functionalization and cross-linking of cells. B. subtilis is engineered to display SpyTags on polar flagella for cell attachment to SpyCatcher modified secreted scaffolds. We engineer endospore limited B. subtilis cells to become a structural component of the material with spores for long-term storage of genetic programming. Silica biomineralization peptides are screened and scaffolds designed for silica polymerization to fabricate biocomposite materials with enhanced mechanical properties. We show that the resulting ELM can be regenerated from a piece of cell containing silica material and that new functions can be incorporated by co-cultivation of engineered B. subtilis strains. We believe that this work will serve as a framework for the future design of resilient ELMs.

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“…More recently, as an intersection of synthetic biology and materials science, the concept of engineered living materials (ELMs) has evolved [61]. ELMs are engineered materials composed of living biological entities that can form and modulate the material itself [62]. The incorporation of living cells provides many advantages to the materials such as biosensing, self-regenerative, and modulating capabilities [63].…”

Section: Product Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematic Understanding of Recent Developments in Bacterial Cellulose Biosynthesis at Genetic, Bioprocess and Product Levels

Buldum

Mantalaris

2021

IJMS

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Engineering biological processes has become a standard approach to produce various commercially valuable chemicals, therapeutics, and biomaterials. Among these products, bacterial cellulose represents major advances to biomedical and healthcare applications. In comparison to properties of plant cellulose, bacterial cellulose (BC) shows distinctive characteristics such as a high purity, high water retention, and biocompatibility. However, low product yield and extensive cultivation times have been the main challenges in the large-scale production of BC. For decades, studies focused on optimization of cellulose production through modification of culturing strategies and conditions. With an increasing demand for BC, researchers are now exploring to improve BC production and functionality at different categories: genetic, bioprocess, and product levels as well as model driven approaches targeting each of these categories. This comprehensive review discusses the progress in BC platforms categorizing the most recent advancements under different research focuses and provides systematic understanding of the progress in BC biosynthesis. The aim of this review is to present the potential of ‘modern genetic engineering tools’ and ‘model-driven approaches’ on improving the yield of BC, altering the properties, and adding new functionality. We also provide insights for the future perspectives and potential approaches to promote BC use in biomedical applications.

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Engineered Living Materials: Taxonomies and Emerging Trends

Cited by 73 publications

References 58 publications

Robust Self‐Regeneratable Stiff Living Materials Fabricated from Microbial Cells

Robust Self‐Regeneratable Stiff Living Materials Fabricated from Microbial Cells

Engineering Bacillus subtilis for the formation of a durable living biocomposite material

Systematic Understanding of Recent Developments in Bacterial Cellulose Biosynthesis at Genetic, Bioprocess and Product Levels

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