BRITE Fellow: Rigid Engineered Living Materials

这项促进工程变革和公平进步的研究理念（BRITE）研究员资助将建立将工程应用中使用的材料（塑料，金属，陶瓷等）与活生物体（细菌）相结合所需的基本科学和设计方法。将活细胞添加到工程材料中有可能将生物特性（生长、愈合等）灌输到用于制造车辆、建筑物和商业产品的材料中。特别是，活细胞持续修复材料的能力有可能减少维修或更换磨损部件/设备时产生的财务和环境成本。创造新的更耐用的材料有可能减少与材料制造相关的能源需求，而材料制造占全球碳排放量的25%。除了推进工程科学，这项工作还包括通过扩大代表性不足群体成员的参与，增加国内工程人才库，努力保持美国在技术领域的领导地位。具体来说，这些努力包括建立一个工程学院网络，以协调志愿者服务、指导和倡导，以实现美国西班牙裔人口在工程领域实现人口平等的长期目标。大多数跨越工程和生物学的研究集中在使用工程原理来解决生物学中的挑战。相比之下，这个BRITE Fellow项目侧重于利用生物系统解决工程挑战的变革概念。该项目旨在通过关注刚性、承载材料的设计和功能，通过生物体的存在来实现功能，从而推动工程生物材料领域的发展。该项目解决了以下研究问题：(i)在刚性工程材料中需要什么样的设计原则来保持常驻细胞的活力？（ii）使用活细胞填充或重新填充刚性材料的最佳方法是什么？（iii）现有的哪些制造技术可以用来制造容易滋生细菌的材料？（iv）如何在材料中使用机械敏感细菌来感知机械损伤？这项研究使用了一种自然产生的刚性生物材料——骨头——作为生物学灵感。纳米流体装置用于确定通道形态、营养输送以及外部施加流体压力和/或机械负载的效用的功能设计原则。这些发现将适用于几种刚性材料（聚合物、金属、陶瓷）和几种用于工程生物材料（细菌、真菌、微藻等）的细胞。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Boosting Research Ideas for Transformative and Equitable Advances in Engineering (BRITE) Fellow grant will establish basic scientific and design approaches needed to combine materials used in engineering applications (plastics, metals, ceramics, etc.) with living organisms (bacteria). The addition of living cells to engineering materials has the potential to instill biological traits (growth, healing, etc.) to the materials used to make vehicles, buildings, and commercial products. In particular, the ability of living cells to continuously repair a material has the potential to reduce financial and environmental costs generated when worn parts/devices are repaired or replaced. The creation of new longer-lasting materials has the potential to reduce energy needs associated with material manufacturing which are responsible for 25 percent of global carbon emissions. In addition to advancing engineering science, the work includes efforts to maintain US leadership in technology by increasing domestic engineering talent pools through broadening participation by members of underrepresented groups. Specifically, the efforts involve building a network of engineering faculty to coordinate volunteer service, mentorship and advocacy toward the long-term goal of achieving demographic parity in engineering by the US Hispanic population.Most convergent research spanning engineering and biology focuses on the use of engineering principals to address challenges in biology. In contrast, this BRITE Fellow project focuses on the transformative concept of using biological systems to address challenges in engineering. This project seeks to advance the field of Engineered Living Materials by focusing on the design and function of rigid, load carrying materials functionalized by the presence of living organisms. The project addresses the following research questions: (i) What design principles are required to maintain viability of resident cells within rigid engineered materials? (ii) What are the best ways to populate or repopulate a rigid material using living cells? (iii) What existing manufacturing techniques can be used to create materials easily populated by bacteria? and (iv) How could mechanically sensitive bacteria be used within the materials to sense mechanical damage? The research uses a naturally occurring rigid living material, bone, as a biological inspiration. Nanofluidic devices are used to identify functional design principles for channel morphology, nutrient delivery, and the utility of externally applied fluid pressure and/or mechanical loading. The findings will be applicable across several classes of rigid materials (polymers, metals, ceramics) and several types of cells researched for use in engineered living materials (bacteria, fungi, microalgae, etc.).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.