Living cells have the capability to synthesize molecular components and precisely assemble them from the nanoscale to build macroscopic living functional architectures under ambient conditions. The emerging field of living materials has leveraged microbial engineering to produce materials for various applications, but building 3D structures in arbitrary patterns and shapes has been a major challenge. We set out to develop a new bioink, termed as "microbial ink" that is produced entirely from genetically engineered microbial cells, programmed to perform a bottom-up, hierarchical self-assembly of protein monomers into nanofibers, and further into nanofiber networks that comprise extrudable hydrogels. We further demonstrate the 3D printing of functional living materials by embedding programmed Escherichia coli (E. coli) cells and nanofibers into microbial ink, which can sequester toxic moieties, release biologics and regulate its own cell growth through the chemical induction of rationally designed genetic circuits. This report showcases the advanced capabilities of nanobiotechnology and living materials technology to 3D-print functional living architectures.
Engineered living materials (May 4–7, 2021)