Team:TU Delft/Description
Project Biolink
3D printing of bacterial biofilms, liked together through nanowires
Project Description
Biofilms are communities of bacteria connected by protein nanowires and surrounded by an extracellular substance. In this formation, they are more resistant and can severely affect human health, industrial productivity and the environment. More precisely, biofilms can cause infections in the human body, affect water quality, and damage industrial installations and equipment. Research and industry have been working to find various solutions for preventing and removing this threat. Potential solutions, such as health products, drugs and industrial removal products, are tested on artificially formed biofilms.
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.