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

非技术类：该奖项由材料研究部生物材料项目授予麻省理工学院，由化学、生物工程、环境和运输系统部门共同资助，用于开发新型可持续材料，这些材料是利用细菌培养的，具有增强的结构和性能。更具体地说，这项研究计划提出了前所未有的控制和增强技术上重要的生命材料系统的多尺度设计，细菌纤维素，它在纺织品、药物输送装置、组织工程支架和可持续建筑组件方面具有巨大的潜力。这项研究将使这种生物聚合物的材料（结构和性能）和宏观3D形状同时调整成为可能。将采取跨学科的方法，包括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，以及强大的新型增材制造制造（具有微米尺度空间分辨率的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，并对这三个学科都有更广泛的影响贡献。合成生物学的基础方法可以扩展到任何生物聚合物（例如，蛋白质块共聚物，纤维素，淀粉样蛋白等）。对于建筑设计而言，将算法设计和增材制造方法应用于生物物质的机会是新颖的，并且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，从而从可再生资源中生产可持续的和对环境敏感的材料和建筑组件。在材料科学方面，本项目建议系统地研究材料结构、性能和形态的结合，通过外部刺激调节的合成基因网络，设计材料，并进一步增强其功能和性能，实现特定的功能化。参与这些项目将教育学生跨越学科界限和跨分辨率的工作，以开发微生物生产的可持续设计制造技术。本研究的额外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”，指导本科生和高中生的全球合成生物学竞赛iGEM（国际基因工程机器），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，将通过麻省理工学院的本科生研究项目指导暑期学生。技术：本研究计划提出控制和调整技术上重要的模型系统（细菌纤维素）的材料（结构和性能）和宏观形态测量（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组件的潜力。采用跨学科的方法，包括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，以及强大的新型增材制造制造（具有微米尺度空间分辨率的3D打印）。本研究的第一个目的是通过使用UV光刻调节和合成生物网络编码融合蛋白生产来调节由细菌葡萄糖醋杆菌合成的纤维素的结构和性质。其次，研究了原位胞外物理化学环境条件和扰动对细菌纤维素结构和性质的影响。所得纤维素的大分子结构和性质将通过交叉极化光学、电子和原子力显微镜、x射线衍射、核磁共振、傅立叶变换红外光谱、多向机械测试和纳米压痕来评估。最后，算法设计和3D打印将用于制造越来越复杂的宏观结构，具有可调的模具几何参数，随后用于铸造聚二甲基硅氧烷底物，用于基因工程细菌纤维素的原位培养和生长。

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.