Engineered Living materIals for enVironmEntal SENSing (LiveSens)
Abstract
LiveSens stems its objectives from the innate capacity of living cells to constantly sense the environment, and from a few molecular building blocks reshape these molecules into new structurally and functionally more complex materials, keeping them stable throughout time. Based on the recent discovery that exposing living cells or a simple tissue-like animal to an oligothiophene compound causes the spontaneous assembling of highly fluorescent and conductive microfibers LiveSens aims to gain a fundamental understanding of how the delivery of a precise chemical input instructs the cells to produce fully organic and conductive biofibers, and how changes in the chemical information affect fibers properties. Starting from the chemical engineering of novel oligothiophene materials, in vitro and in vivo models (cultured cells and the simple invertebrate Hydra) will be investigated for their ability to produce microfibers capable of sensing environmental changes and decoding them into electronic outputs. Furthermore, genetic engineering of the living organisms will enable to dissect the molecular machinery involved in the biosynthesis to better control and maximize fiber production. LiveSens introduces a transformative concept of material production, where the material is seamlessly integrated into the organism, generating a new engineered living material for an environmentally friendly and energy-efficient multiresponsive fibers manufacturing. Compared to traditional materials ‘production this new synthetic biology approach will generate a comprehensive know how on a phenomenon that may be broadly applicable to living systems leading to advanced materials with new, similar or better functionalities, but with decreased costs, and environmental impact.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 20, 2023
- Source ID
- FA86552217014
Entities
People
- Claudia Tortiglione
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
- United States Air Force