Livtronics: Living Electronics for Biologically-Enhanced Sensing, Computing, and Signal Transmission
Abstract
In addition to serving as chassis for engineering novel biological functions, microorganisms offer new paradigms for transmission of ionoelectronic signals at biotic-abiotic interfaces. Our collaborative group sees a tremendous opportunity at this interface of synthetic biology and electromicrobiology: controlling biological charge transport, which underpins all cellular energy acquisition, to tune and probe synthesis, sensing, and information-processing functions encoded by synthetic gene circuits.In contrast to merely using microbes as cellular factories of parts for downstream applications, our project will result in a new class of functional living electronics (livtronics), where cells themselves are active elements with synthetic gene circuits that are triggered or read directly by electron transport from/to electrodes. To achieve this vision, we will discover the enabling charge transport fundamentals, synthesize and characterize microbial bioelectronic components, enhance natural processes with a suite of bioelectronic parts that improve interfaces to the solid-state, and implement microbial circuit components, electrochemical transistors, and functional livtronics capable of biosynthesis, sensing, and processing information tied to electronic outputs. The project is organized into three tightly-integrated research thrusts:Thrust A. Fundamentals and Characterization of Microbial Bioelectronic Components. We will construct soft and hard bioelectronic components, develop new characterization methodologies suitable for challenging livtronic environments, and discover the fundamentals of underexplored but potentially transformative features of biological electron transport ??? namely spin selectivity and coupling to ionic signaling.Thrust B. Fabrication and Self-Organization of Microbe-Electrode Hybrids. We willdemonstrate electrophoretic and non-linear dielectrophoretic deposition of cells into functional devices, reveal the mechanisms of bacterial redox sensing to enable self-deployment and electrical reporting of microbes on circuit components, and engineer cell surfaces for directed self-assembly of individual microbes into supracellular structures.Thrust C. Development of Functional Living Electronics. We will develop genetic circuitry for light-induced production of bioelectronics and electronically interface these living materials to devices, implement simple neural networks using information-processing genetic circuits with electronic readout, demonstrate tunable microbial electrochemical transistors, and harness bacterial redox sensing to develop microbial ???sentries??? for repair and operation on electronic materials.For DoD mission, livtronics will form the foundation of new concepts for programmable biosensors, energy converters, biotic integrated logic, and low-energy information processing. These in vivo devices will combine the replication, self-repair, sensing, and situational decision making superiority of living cells with the vast toolbox of synthetic circuitry and nanomaterials.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 04, 2018
- Source ID
- N000141812632
Entities
People
- Mohamed El Naggar
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Southern California