SusChEM: Material and Morphometric Control of Bacterial Cellulose via Genetic Engineering, Post-Processing and 3D-Printed Molding

非技术性：该奖项由材料研究部生物材料计划授予马萨诸塞州理工学院，由化学、生物工程、环境和运输系统部共同资助，旨在开发利用细菌生长的新型可持续材料，以增强结构和性能。更具体地说，这项研究计划提出了一个技术上重要的生物材料系统，细菌纤维素，它具有巨大的潜力，可用作纺织品，药物输送设备，组织工程支架和可持续建筑组件的多尺度设计获得前所未有的控制和增强。这项研究将能够同时调整这种生物聚合物的材料（结构和性能）和宏观3D形状。将采取跨学科的方法，涉及合成生物学和基因工程，原位细胞外和材料处理，建筑领域的算法设计方法，以及强大的新增材制造（具有微米级空间分辨率的3D打印）。这项研究结合了三个学科-合成生物学，材料科学和建筑设计，并对所有三个学科都有更广泛的影响贡献。对于合成生物学，创建了可以扩展到任何生物聚合物（例如蛋白质嵌段共聚物，纤维素，淀粉样蛋白等）的基础方法。对于建筑设计来说，将算法设计和增材制造方法应用于生命物质的机会是新颖的，并开辟了关于设计与生物生长和材料形成相互作用的可能性的新问题，以生产可持续和环境响应的材料和可再生资源的建筑部件。对于材料科学，该项目建议系统研究材料结构，性能和形态学的组合，作为设计材料的一种方式，并通过由外部刺激调节的合成基因网络通过特定功能化进一步增强其功能和性能。参与这些项目将教育学生跨越学科界限，并跨越分辨率的尺度，以开发可持续的设计制造技术，用于微生物生产。这项研究的其他教育活动包括麻省理工学院的独立活动期（IAP）跨学科课程“设计形状，材料和生命”，在本科生和高中生iGEM（国际遗传工程机器）的全球合成生物学竞赛中的指导，以及科学展览，如麻省理工学院博物馆和剑桥科学博览会。最后，通过麻省理工学院的本科生研究项目对暑期学生进行指导。技术：本研究项目提出控制和调整具有重要技术意义的模型系统（细菌纤维素）的材料（结构和性能）和宏观形态（3D形状），该模型系统具有用作纺织品、药物输送装置、组织工程支架和可持续建筑部件的潜力。采用跨学科方法，涉及合成生物学和基因工程，原位细胞外和材料处理，建筑领域的算法设计方法，以及强大的新增材制造制造（具有微米级空间分辨率的3D打印）。本研究的第一个目的是调节纤维素的结构和性质，因为它是由细菌木葡糖酸醋杆菌通过使用UV光刻调节和合成生物网络编码融合蛋白生产合成的。其次，将研究原位胞外理化环境条件和扰动对细菌纤维素结构和性质的作用。将通过交叉偏振光学、电子和原子力显微镜、X射线衍射、核磁共振、傅里叶变换红外光谱、多向机械测试和纳米压痕来评估所产生的纤维素的大分子结构和性质。最后，将利用算法设计和3D打印来制造越来越复杂的宏观结构，这些结构具有可调的模具几何参数，随后用于铸造聚二甲基硅氧烷基质，用于原位培养和基因工程细菌纤维素的生长。

Nontechnical: This award by the Biomaterials Program in the Division of Materials Research, co-funded by the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems, to Massachusetts Institute of Technology is for the development of new class of sustainable materials that are grown using bacteria to have enhanced structure and properties. More specifically, this research program proposes to gain unprecedented control and enhancement of the multiscale design of a technologically important living material system, bacterial cellulose, which has great potential for use as textiles, drug delivery devices, tissue engineering scaffolds, and sustainable building components. This research will enable simultaneous tuning of the material (structure and properties) and macroscopic 3D shape of this biopolymer. An interdisciplinary approach will be taken involving synthetic biology and genetic engineering, in-situ extracellular and materials processing, algorithmic design methods from the field of architecture, as well as powerful new additive manufacturing fabrication (3D printing with micron-scale spatial resolution). This study combines three disciplines - synthetic biology, materials science, and architectural design and has a broader impact contribution for all three. For synthetic biology, foundational methodologies are created that could be extended to any biological polymer (e.g. protein block co-polymers, cellulose, amyloids, etc.). For architectural design, the opportunity to apply methods of algorithmic design and additive manufacturing to living matter is novel and opens up new questions about possibilities of design in interaction with biological growth and material formation to produce sustainable and environmentally responsive materials and building components from renewable resources. For materials science, the project suggests systematic study of combination of material structure, properties and morphometry as a way to design materials and further enhance their function and performance with specific functionalization through synthetic gene networks regulated by external stimuli. Participation in these projects will educate students to cross disciplinary boundaries and work across scales of resolution to develop sustainable design manufacturing techniques for microbial production. Additional educational activities for this study include Independent Activity Period (IAP) interdisciplinary class at MIT "Designing Shape, Material, and Life", instruction in the worldwide synthetic biology competition for undergraduate and high school students iGEM (International Genetic Engineering Machine), and science exhibitions, such as MIT Museum and Cambridge Science Fair. Lastly, mentoring of summer students via undergraduate research programs at MIT will be carried out.Technical:This research program proposes to control and tune the material (structure and properties) and macroscopic morphometry (3D shape) of a technologically important model system (bacterial cellulose), which has potential for use as textiles, drug delivery devices, tissue engineering scaffolds, and sustainable building components. An interdisciplinary approach is taken involving synthetic biology and genetic engineering, in-situ extracellular and materials processing, algorithmic design methods from the field of architecture, as well as powerful new additive manufacturing fabrication (3D printing with micron-scale spatial resolution). The first aim of this research is to modulate the structure and properties of cellulose as it is synthesized by the bacteria Gluconacetobacter xylinus via the use of UV lithography regulation and synthetic biological networks encoding fusion proteins production. Secondly, the role of the in situ extracellular physicochemical environmental conditions and perturbations on the structure and properties of bacterial cellulose will be investigated. The resulting macromolecular structure and properties of the produced cellulose will be assessed by cross-polarized optical, electron and atomic-force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, multi-directional mechanical testing, and nanoindentation. Lastly, algorithmic design and 3D printing will be utilized to fabricate increasingly complex macroscopic structures with tunable geometric parameters of molds which are subsequently used to cast polydimethylsiloxane substrates for in situ culture and growth of genetically engineered bacterial cellulose.