Team:TU Delft/Description
Project Biolink
3D printing of bacterial biofilms, linked together through nanowires
Project Description
Problem and Solution
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.
The problem with biofilms formed artificially is that they are time consuming, difficult to control and to reproduce. This means that artificial biofilms do not reflect natural biofilm characteristics, making product testing unreliable. Therefore, biofilm-removal products may have a different effect when used in natural settings, with unforeseen negative side-effects and reduced efficiency.
Our project is entitled Biolink, and provides an alternative to current biofilm formation technologies. We use a 3D printer, which we call The Biolinker, to form layers of a designed bioink made of bacteria that can bind together into a desired structure.
Biolink helps biofilm-related industries in several ways. First, it brings reproducibility and control to how bacterial biofilms can be artificially formed. Second, biofilm printing adds automation and scalability, making biofilm formation processes more efficient, and thus, cheaper. Hence, Biolink can help to design safer and more effective anti-biofilm solutions, by increasing biofilm testing process efficiency and resemblance to reality.
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.