Abstract
Biological engineering is enabling disruptive innovations in biopharmaceutical research, in the bio-based and sustainable production of chemicals, in decarbonization, energy production, or bioremediation. Recently, the transfer of technologies from biological engineering and synthetic biology to materials sciences established the concept of engineered living materials (ELMs). ELMs are defined as materials composed of living cells that form or assemble the material itself or modulate the functional performance of the material. ELMs enable the sustainable production of materials as well as the design of novel material properties and functions that have so far been beyond the realm of technical materials. In this contribution, we give an overview of how ELMs can offer innovative and sustainable solutions to overcome current boundaries in materials science.
Zusammenfassung
Biologisches Engineering ermöglicht bahnbrechende Innovationen in der biopharmazeutischen Forschung, bei der biobasierten und nachhaltigen Herstellung von Chemikalien, bei der Dekarbonisierung, der Energieerzeugung oder der Bioremediation. In jüngster Zeit wurde durch den Transfer von Technologien aus dem biologischen Engineering und der synthetischen Biologie auf die Materialwissenschaften das Konzept der “engineered living materials” (ELMs) eingeführt. ELMs sind definiert als Materialien, die aus lebenden Zellen bestehen, die das Material selbst bilden oder zusammensetzen, oder die funktionelle Leistung des Materials modulieren. ELMs ermöglichen die nachhaltige Herstellung von Materialien, sowie die Entwicklung neuartiger Materialeigenschaften und -funktionen, die bisher außerhalb des Bereichs der technischen Materialien lagen. In diesem Beitrag geben wir einen Überblick darüber, wie ELMs innovative und nachhaltige Lösungen zur Überwindung der derzeitigen Grenzen in der Materialwissenschaft bieten können.
About the authors
Geisler Muñoz-Guamuro received his M.Sc. degree in Biotechnology in 2022 from the University of Strasbourg’s Engineering School of Biotechnology (ESBS), France. He is currently doing his PhD at the Leibniz Institute for New Materials (INM), Germany, under the guidance of Prof. Wilfried Weber. His research focus on the development of biofilm-based materials.
Miguel Baños completed his Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. He later pursued a Master’s degree in Biofabrication at Universität Bayreuth. Currently he is working as a PhD student under Prof. Wilfried Weber’s guidance on interfacing mammalian cells with biohybrid materials.
Jan Becker received his M.Sc. degree in Biochemistry and Biophysics in 2021 at the University of Freiburg, Germany. Afterward he started his PhD studies in Freiburg during which he moved together with his supervisor Prof. Wilfried Weber to the Leibniz Institute for New Materials (INM) in Saarbrücken. Currently he is working with engineering hydrogels and their application in combination with mammalian cells.
Prof. Dr. Wilfried Weber is Scientific Director at INM – Leibniz Institute for New Materials and Professor for New Materials at Saarland University. Prior to this he was Professor of Synthetic Biology at the University of Freiburg, Germany. His research aims at combining synthetic biology and materials sciences for the development of biohybrid, living materials for biomedical and biosensing applications. Copyright: Thomas Kunz/BIOSS, University of Freiburg.
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Research ethics: Not applicable.
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Author contributions: The authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission. The authors G.M-G., M.B. and J.B. contributed equally to this work.
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Competing interests: The authors state no conflict of interest.
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Research funding: None declared.
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Data availability: Not applicable.
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