Group of people in warm clothing posing for a picture in front of a baroque looking building. Four flags are visible: the one for the European Union, Lithuania, NATO, and Vilnius.

Our consortium has just wrapped up another meeting! This time, our @horizoneu.bsky.social team was hosted by our Lithuanian partners, Ferentis, in the beautiful city of Vilnius. 🇱🇹

The team shared updates on the public perception study and new strategies for hydrogel development.

The @horizoneu.bsky.social European Innovation Council now backs a dedicated portfolio of 10 projects in this innovative field: @sumoconsortium.bsky.social, BioRobot-Miniheart, @prism-livingtissues.eu, Bio-HhOST, ISOS Project EU, @nextskins.bsky.social, @loopoffun.bsky.social, and REMEDY EIC.

It will be chaired Luigi Ambrosio (our #HorizonEU project coordinator) and Elisabeth Engel. Keynote speakers are Aranzazu del Campo and Maria Grazia Raucci. Discussions will include stimulus-responsive ELMs, scalability, translational challenges, and much more!

Join our symposium at TERMIS EU 2026 in Palma de Malorca.

If you are at @eutermis.bsky.social 2026, come to our symposium to learn more about “Engineering Living Materials: A New Frontier at the Intersection of Biology and Materials Science”. 24 April 12:00–13:30 at Porto PI Room.

ELSA Summer School on Engineered Living Materials, 13–17 Jul 2026, UK Five-day residential summer school on the ethics, law and society of engineered living materials. Glasgow & Loch Lomond. Apply by 22 March.

Most biotech training focuses on what you can do. The ELSA Summer School on Engineered Living Materials will focus on how to integrate ethical, legal, and social points into your research and how to communicate evolving science to the public and policymakers.

prism-livingtissues.eu/elsa-summer-...

A great chance to expand your knowledge beyond the scientific aspects of engineered living materials.

Organised by @mdpiopenaccess.bsky.social Journal of Functional Biomaterials.

The 2nd International Online Conference on Functional Biomaterials.

The “2nd International Online Conference on Functional Biomaterials” will be on July 8 to 10 and will explore themes very dear to our @horizoneu.bsky.social project, including dental Biomaterials. 💧🦷 We’ll be following it closely!

Abstract submission by 27 February.

sciforum.net/event/IOCFB2...

International Webinars: Topics on Cell and Tissue Engineerin Join the 5th Edition of the International Webinars: Topics on Cell and Tissue Engineering (CTEng), a series of free, cutting-edge online seminars organized by COMPASS RG - CICECO, University of Aveiro, Portugal.

Interested in tissue engineering? Then check out these free webinars with top international researchers on bio fabrication, regeneration, bio mimicry, and much more! 🎟️

The first one is this Friday, February 13, at 09:00 WET (Lisbon time)

Registration and more info at topicscteng.web.ua.pt

Super interesting work!

Additive Manufacturing of Metabolically Active Living Materials with Physicochemical Biocontainment @chemrxiv.org
#ELMs #livingmaterials #MALM
chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10....

I’d like to invite everyone working on engineering living materials to share this starter pack. Please drop me a message or leave a comment if you like to join the #ELMs community. go.bsky.app/RinsDZh

You can read the full EIC ELMs portfolio feedback at ec.europa.eu/info/law/bet...

A few days ago, the period of public consultation on the Advanced Materials Act closed. You can now check the unique feedback given by institutions, business, citizens, and groups, including our @horizoneu.bsky.social Engineering Living Materials portfolio! 🇪🇺 💬

ec.europa.eu/info/law/bet...

Together with @sumoconsortium.bsky.social , BioRobot-Miniheart, @prism-livingtissues.eu, Bio-HhOST, ISOS Project EU, @nextskins.bsky.social, @loopoffun.bsky.social, and REMEDY EIC, we are part of the EIC - European Innovation Council’s Engineered Living Materials portfolio. 🤝

Maria Grazia Raucci of Bioaction - ELM pitch YouTube video by EIC and SMEs Executive Agency

We‘re working with other European projects to come up with new kinds of living materials — basically, biomaterials with living cells that can respond and adapt to their environments. Find out what type of biomatrial each project is developing! 🎬

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAGw...

From 24-26 Nov., the LoopOfFun consortium gathered at the partner LUMA for its 2nd internal hands-on workshop dedicated to the strains and substrates used in our ongoing research on mycomaterials.
We exhanged insights, research updates, and explored LUMA Arles research and artistic programme.

LoopOfFun was at the trade fair Formnext, 18-21 November 2025 in Frankfurt, Germany!
Dr. Achim Weber (partner Fraunhofer IGB) showcased our 3D-printed fungal-based ELM samples and presented our first prototype, the LoopOfFun stool. Great interest and inspiring exchanges!
#EIC #ELMs

The oralome and its dysbiosis: New insights into oral microbiome-host interactions The oralome is the summary of the dynamic interactions orchestrated between the ecological community of oral microorganisms (comprised of up to approx…

Our mouth’s microbiome is basically the sum of all interactions between around one thousand species of microorganisms and ourselves. 😛🦠 Usually, these interactions are balanced and keep us healthy, but sometimes they can get out of whack and make us sick.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Back in July, the LoopOfFun consortium met in Groningen for its 3rd Annual Meeting! We reviewed progress, shared insights, aligned research goals, and enjoyed a team excursion. The two-day meeting brought great energy, great collaboration! We are very much looking forward to the next steps!

Next week is World Antimicrobial Resistance #AMR Awareness Week 2025, but tackling this issue requires more than just seven days. You can find a list of events and campaigns from the @who.int happening before, during, and after. Many available online.

www.who.int/campaigns/wo...

Our #HorizonEU project is developing smart hydrogels and genetic tools to do the reverse, transform bacteria from implant infections into healing partners to help regenerate tissue.

The skin microbiome and its relationship with the human body explained The gut is not the only part of the human body that hosts an important microbiome. The surface of the skin is home to a sprawling and complex microbial ecosystem, which interacts with the immune syste...

Did you know that some bacteria on our skin communicate with our cells and help to defend against infections by other bacteria! It’s only when this “conversation” goes out of whack that beneficial bacteria can “switch sides”.

Artwork by @lucyreadingikkanda.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

🔬 Free Nanobiotech Training in Italy!

For scientists from universities, research, public bodies & SMEs.

📍 Ispra, Italy
🗓️ 23–27 March 2026

Explore micro(nano)plastics, nanomaterials, nanomedicines & 3D bioprinting, and more!

Apply by 28 November: lnkd.in/dbmCdmPA

A month ago, our team met at AO Research Institute Davos (ARI) to share updates and discuss our next steps! Our #HorizonEU project continues to build on the natural partnership between people & bacteria to improve implant healthcare. 🦠🧬🦷🦾

Thanks again AO Research Institute Davos for having us. 🙌

The LoopOfFun consortium participated in the 3rd Annual EIC ELMs Meeting on October 01-02 in Izola.
The EIC portfolio projects @sumoconsortium.bsky.social, BioRobot-Miniheart, @prism-livingtissues.eu, Bio-HhOST, @bioaction.eu, ISOS Project EU, @nextskins.bsky.social, Fungateria, REMEDY.

Clinically applicable antibiotic modification of ready-to-use calcium phosphate cement pastes - Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research Background Ready-to-use non-aqueous cement pastes consist of an organic, water-miscible liquid phase in which cement powder is dispersed. While the modification of classical aqueous powder/liquid cement pastes with antibiotics has been extensively investigated, only a few studies previously published aimed at drug modification of premixed cement pastes. Methods A simple method for modifying such ready-to-use pastes with the model antibiotic vancomycin is described. It was demonstrated that mixing the cement paste and vancomycin solution multiple times using an adapter between two syringes resulted in macroscopically homogeneous pastes. The antibiotic-loaded cements were thoroughly characterized with regard to their physicochemical properties and their drug release profile. Results Drug modification with vancomycin had no adverse effects on cement properties in terms of mechanical performance, phase composition, porosity and pore size distribution. Drug release from ready-to-use pastes exhibited a lower initial burst release of 14.5% compared to 47.9% for aqueous powder/liquid cement pastes after 24 h. At later time points, the initial exponential release kinetics slowed down due to both a decreased concentration gradient and structural changes of the cement matrix during setting. This resulted in sustained release of the antibiotic for more than 30 days. The released vancomycin maintained high antimicrobial activity against S. aureus with inhibition zones of 5.4–6.8 mm in an agar diffusion test. Conclusion The results demonstrated that modification of ready-to-use cement pastes with vancomycin is a potential candidate for clinical application, as it preserves both the material’s properties and the antibiotic’s activity.

New publication from our Bone Cements group:
Clinically applicable antibiotic modification of ready-to-use calcium phosphate cement pastes
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Want to know more about #antibiotic-loaded mineral #bone #cements?

check out our new publication in Acta Biomaterialia:
"Interaction mechanisms between antibiotics and calcium phosphate cements as pharmacologically active bone graft substitutes"
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

We are at the third annual meeting of Engineered Living Materials European Innovation Council portfolio! We’ll be sharing results and networking with other partners at InnoRenew CoE in Izola, Slovenia. 🇸🇮

Thank you REMEDY EIC for hosting us!

Are you registered? Join us this #WebinarWednesday on Oct 1 to explore the fundamentals of #implant infection, its challenges, and the science behind it. Sets the stage for our #ORS2026 workshop on risk, diagnosis & treatment. Register now: https://ors.memberclicks.net/oimp10125web