NextGen Materials 2025: The Convergence of Living Essence and Engineered Innovation
Poster-Pitch-Presentation
24.09.2025
From genetic programs to mechanics: a predictive model for tailoring Engineered Living Materials properties
GM

Geisler Munoz-Guamuro (M.Sc.)

Leibniz-Institut für Neue Materialien gGmbH

Munoz-Guamuro, G. (Speaker)¹; Goodarzi, P.¹; Backenköhler, M.²; Volkamer, A.³; Weber, W.⁴
¹INM Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Saarbrücken; ²Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), Saarbrücken; ³Saarland University, Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, Saarbrücken; ⁴Saarland University, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Saarbrücken
Vorschau
3 Min. Untertitel (CC)

Engineered Living Materials (ELMs) are rapidly emerging providing properties highly sought-after in material science, such as programmability, self-healing and energy-autonomy. For ELM synthesis, genetic programs written by researchers are executed by living matter, ultimately yielding the desired mechanical, structural, and functional properties of the material. However, the development of ELMs is strongly limited by a lack of understanding of how specific genetic programs translate into mechanical material properties, making ELM development a time consuming and rather artisanal process. To address this challenge, here we present a data-driven approach that enables the prediction of ELM properties based on their genetic information. We focus on mechanical properties, specifically the storage modulus (G’), since it is crucial for various real-world applications in biomedicine, construction and wearable materials. First, we engineered a collection of ELM hydrogels with tunable mechanical properties by fusing different repeats of genetically encoded PAS polypeptides, which emulate the biophysical properties of polyethylene glycol (PEG), to CsgA, the main structural unit of curli, a protein-based nanofiber produced by bacteria. We observed that incorporation of PAS repeats reduced the ELM G’, with longer repeats correlating with lower G’ values. Using data gathered from the ELM library, we trained and cross-validated a predictive model that correlates the genetic parameters, such as the presence or absence or CsgA and the number of PAS repeats fused to CsgA, with the storage modulus.  This model enabled the prediction of genetic configurations required to achieve a desired stiffness. We anticipate that our data-driven approach will be transferable to predict additional material properties based on their genetic information. These findings highlight the potential of data-driven approaches to accelerate the design and development of ELMs with tailored properties.


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