Engineered Living Materials (ELMs) combine synthetic biology and material science to mimic the properties of natural living materials. The revolutionary materials have been applied in regenerative medicine, therapeutics, electronics, device engineering, and computing (cite), but not yet widely in the built environment (BE). The authors are part of a multidisciplinary research project funded by the National Science Foundation’s Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) Engineered Living Systems (ELiS) program, which focuses on ELMs for the BE.

The research consortium includes five labs of chemists, biochemists, bioengineers, computational design experts, and architects that contribute to the iterative research process (Figure 1). The cycle begins with a new material idea derived from innovation in chemical and biochemical lab research [1,2,3]. Once the material idea is established, it is followed by a sequence of prototyping, 3D printing, testing, and application testing, before returning to and revising the material idea [4].

[Diagram of research design]
Figure 1. Research design and iterative process of the EFRI ELiS project.

The multidisciplinary team has developed a material profile that enables different disciplines to collaborate on the same material across various phases of the iterative design process. To accelerate the iterative prototyping process of form finding and application testing, the team has graduate students in architecture and chemistry collaborate with the research labs on rapid testing through computational design of various lattice structures (TPMS, stochastic, and tessellation), additive manufacturing (SLA printing), assessment, and their speculative implementation in the BE. This poster will highlight three material studies based on non-conventional, oleaginous yeasts and Cyanobacteria: ELMs used as bioheaters, storm- and wastewater bioremediators, and photosynthetic active structures.

 
References

[1] T. Johnston, et al.; Macromolecular Bioscience, 2020, 20 (8).
[2] T. Johnston, et al.; Nature Communications, 2020, 11 (1): 563.
[3] S. Yuanet et al.; Bioactive Materials, 2021, 6 (8): 2390–99.
[4] G. Altin‐Yavuzarslan, et al.; Advanced Functional Materials, 2023, 33 (24).