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Main Work Packages
Intro about Work Packages
WP 1: Genetic Engineering
We will use the latest advances in synthetic biology to enable microbial cells to produce a new generation of functional and responsive Engineered Living Materials.
Using our expertise in synthetic biology and genome engineering, we will develop standardised and automated methods for designing, building and optimising DNA-encoded genetic programs that are written to direct bacteria and yeast to make and modify materials.
The latest advances in modular DNA cloning, cell-to-cell signalling, optogenetics and open-source robotics will be used to advance DNA-based engineering in multiple organisms that will be used to produce our Engineered Living Materials.
WP 2: Biomoleculair Design
To achieve different materials functionalities on our Engineered Living Materials we will use structurally engineered proteins. These proteins are produced within the living materials by microbes developed in WP1.
Proteins such as hydrophobins can act as coatings that give protective and water-repelling properties to the materials. Inspiration for these is taken from fungi which use hydrophobin-proteins as protective coatings. Spider-silk proteins will be used to achieve mechanical properties in the living material.
WP 3: Material fabrication and Characterisation
The Living Therapeutic Material (LTM) and Living Regenerative Material (LRM) will be generated using the strains engineered in WP1 and the protein constructs optimized in WP2.
Both LTM and LRM are designed to be arranged in layers having specific cellular and molecular compositions, leading to dedicated functions.
We will quantitatively investigate the structure and arrangement of these layers, as well as assess their specialized tasks (sensing, therapeutic, mechanical or regenerative).
The fabrication procedure and any processing method will be optimized for improved materials performance, based on the structural, mechanical and biological characterization.
WP 4: Designing with Living Materials
In this WP we will focus on biodesign and the social implications of our NextSkins materials.
We will prototype and explore user experience of Living Therapeutic Materials.
We will develop biodesign tools for predictive exploration of the design space with Living Regenerative Materials.
