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Revision as of 12:05, 24 July 2015
Project Description
The 3D Micro(be) Printing project has two main goals. First, to offer a reproducible and automated way of forming bacterial biofilms with a printer. Second, to provide a cheap and customizable method of creating biofilms for testing purposes. Furthermore, through policy and practice we try to position our project within the synthetic biology industry and academia, as well as observe socio-economic perception and feedback. We accomplish this by analyzing and interviewing stakeholders and building a business plan around our project.
What, How, Why?
Different species of bacteria, algae and fungi can produce biofilms. Biofilms are microorganisms living in cell clusters on surfaces, such as dental placque. Within a biofilm the microorganism benefits from increased protection from antibiotics and the immune system.
Antibiotic resistance and insufficient methods for removing biofilms are still an issue, for example in medical implantations. Hence, profound investigation of biofilm formation and its removal is essential in medical sciences and commercial products.
We will engineer bacteria that can be linked to each other through nanowires with the goal of generating a well-defined biofilm structure using a 3D printer. The fast and efficient formation of a biofilm using a 3D printer promises improved reproducibility and experiment consistency, which may lead to advances in anti-biofilm products.
Another novel application of this technique is the immobilization of enzymes on the nanowires using affinity binding, which overcomes substrate uptake limitations by cells and improves reusability of the enzymes.
The mechanical stability and adhesive properties can be improved by integrating this technique with specific mussel proteins, which are employed by nature to attach the mussel to surfaces as an underwater adhesive. We envision this to be used in medical applications and environmental biotechnology.