EFRI ELiS: Autonomous Engineered Living Materials for Construction and Repair of Outdoor Built Environments

用于建筑环境的工程生活系统（ELiS）有可能达到传统建筑材料无法达到的精度，控制和可持续性水平。该项目的三个主要目标是开发低水合ELiS，自我强化/修复，创建具有生物持续功能和生物遏制的水培ELiS，并使用增材制造（也称为3D打印）技术为建筑环境制造紧固件，接头和原型面板。该项目将通过减少碳足迹（降低运输成本和绿色生产）和化学循环（蛋白质基材料的化学回收）来满足国家对先进制造方法的需求，以实现更可持续的建筑环境。该项目还解决了国家需要培养下一代高技能和多样化的未来劳动力的问题，并将通过外联活动增加在建筑设计中采用生物成分，该提案的总体目标是解决与代谢工程微生物在为建筑环境设计的材料中的整合和维持有关的关键基本挑战。为了推动ELiS向前发展并为建筑环境提供现实世界的工程解决方案，ELiS必须具有用于结构和建筑应用所需的机械性能，可制造为各种形状因子，并且需要在可能无法自然支持微生物的维持和增殖的部署条件下维持。原生土壤微生物和蓝细菌将被用作基因工程的细胞平台，并将在材料的生命周期内持续存在。该团队将制造，建模和测试输送水和营养物质的毛细微流体通道。我们提案的变革性科学方面是：（i）用于动态和极端环境的微生物基因工程，（ii）用于3D打印ELiS的机械刚性蛋白质水凝胶的设计和合成，以及（iii）用于自主流体运输的毛细管微流体通道的集成。此外，3D打印还可以实现零件的分布式制造，以及由建筑师、工程师和其他用户创建的定制设计。增材制造技术将用于制造建筑环境的原型紧固件、接头和面板。该项目还将开展外联活动，通过设计竞赛吸引和招募不同的公民科学家和研究人员，将生活材料引入“起居室”。该奖项反映了NSF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。

Engineered living systems (ELiS) for the built environment have the potential to attain a level of precision, control, and sustainability that is not achieved with traditional construction materials. The three primary aims of this project are to develop low-hydration ELiS that self-strengthen/repair, create hydroponic ELiS with bio-sustained function and biocontainment, and use additive manufacturing (also known as 3D printing) techniques to fabricate fasteners, joints, and prototype panels for the built environment. This project will meet the national need for advanced manufacturing methods for more sustainable built environments via reduced carbon footprint (reduced transport costs and greener production) and chemical circularity (chemical recycling of protein-based materials). This project also addresses the national need to develop the next generation of a highly skilled and diverse future workforce and will increase adoption of biological components in architectural design through outreach activities.The overarching goal of this proposal is to address key fundamental challenges associated with the integration and sustenance of metabolically engineered microbial organisms in materials designed for the built environment. In order to propel ELiS forward and provide real-world engineering solutions for built environments, ELiS must have the requisite mechanical properties to be used for structural and constructural applications, be manufacturable as a variety of form factors, and need to be sustained under deployment conditions that may not naturally support the sustenance and proliferation of microbial organisms. Native soil microbes and cyanobacteria will be utilized as the cellular platforms for genetic engineering and will be sustained for the lifetime of the material. The team will fabricate, model, and test capillary microfluidic channels that transport water and nutrients. The transformative scientific aspects of our proposal are (i) genetic engineering of microorganisms for dynamic and extreme environments, (ii) design and synthesis of mechanically stiff protein-based hydrogels for 3D printing ELiS, and (iii) the integration of capillary microfluidic channels for autonomous fluid transport. Additionally, 3D printing enables the distributed manufacturing of parts, as well as custom designs that can be created by architects, engineers, and other users. Additive manufacturing techniques will be used to fabricate prototype fasteners, joints, and panels for the built environment. The project will also develop outreach activities to engage and recruit diverse citizen scientists and researchers with a design competition to introduce living materials into a “living” room.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.