Bioproduction, bioprotection, and biocontainment in multi-Kingdom microbial systems with 3D spatial control Bioproduction, bioprotection, and biocontainment in multi-Kingdom microbial systems with 3D spatial control, Le, LeAnn, Altin-Yavuzarslan, Gokce, Klatt, Elizabeth C, Sadaba, Naroa, Berg, Angus C, Karanjia, Ava V, Brooks, Sierra M, Zalatan, Jesse G, Pozzo, Lilo D., Carothers, James, Alper, Hal S, Nelson, Alshakim

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/...
via @biomednews.bsky.social | #livingmaterials #ELMs

includes research on: multi-kingdom microbial systems, conductive hydrogels for sense and respond, innovating biomanufacturing with coculture-based ELMs & more 🧪

Micropatterned DNA Hydrogels for Spatiotemporal Programming of Chemical Reaction Networks Cells in living systems communicate by sending and receiving signal molecules to coordinate their behavior. To achieve long-distance and noise-resistant communication, cells pattern themselves into sp...

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/...
via @biomednews.bsky.social | #livingmaterials #ELMs

includes research on: micropatterned DNA hydrogels, & synthetic aptamer mechanoreceptors (h/t @waltherlab.bsky.social ), circuits for cell ratio control & more 🧪

Speakers will include Heidi Beate Bentzen, Luca Consoli, Laurens Landeweerd, and Amalia Kallergi.

#ELSA #EngineeredLivingMaterials #Bioethics #ResponsibleInnovation

Delivering living medicines with biomaterials - Nature Reviews Materials As the field of engineered therapeutic living cells advances, new strategies to deliver them into the body are needed. This Review identifies current challenges in living medicine delivery and discuss...

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/...

via @biomednews.bsky.social | #livingmaterials #ELMs

includes research on: stress-relaxing granular bioprinting, delivering living medicines with biomaterials (h/t tetsuharimoto.bsky.social), & more 🧪

The Intersecting Physical Mechanisms That Regulate Cell Viability in 3D Synthetic Hydrogels This study coordinates multiple cell-biomaterial interfaces to evaluate the overlapping physical signals of stiffness, solute transport, and cell confinement presented when cells are encapsulated in ...

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/...

via @biomednews.bsky.social | #livingmaterials #ELMs

includes research on: tough hydrogels enabled by transient entanglements, physical mechanisms that regulate cell viability in 3D synthetic hydrogels, & more 🧪

Ultrafast-relaxing and photopolymerizable PEG hydrogels enable viscoelasticity-mediated cell remodeling in synthetic matrices Photopolymerizable BELA hydrogels combine dynamic boronate ester and elastic dithiolane-ene crosslinks to achieve ultrafast stress relaxation and tunable viscoelasticity. By adjusting formulation and ...

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/...

via @biomednews.bsky.social | #livingmaterials #ELMs

includes research on: cell remodeling in synthetic matrices, designing self-healing, printable, and tough conductive hydrogels, matter and microbes & more 🧪

Conformation-programmed DNA computing This DNA computing model integrates sequence programmability with allostery, establishing a conformation-based computing paradigm.

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/...

via @biomednews.bsky.social | #livingmaterials #ELMs

includes research on: macroscopic cell-Laden cryogels., 4D morphogenetic tissue engineering, conformation-programmed DNA computing & more 🧪

Sub-second volumetric 3D printing by synthesis of holographic light fields - Nature A new method is described that uses a periscope to generate high-speed, high-resolution projections of light fields, enabling sub-second volumetric 3D printing of millimetre-scale objects without rota...

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/...

via @biomednews.bsky.social #livingmaterials #ELMs

includes research on: sub-second volumetric 3D printing, fluorescently labeled gradient hydrogels, learning nature's assembly language with polymers & more 🧪

Light-powered bacteria become living chemical factories Engineered Escherichia coli could open the door to more sustainable routes to new drugs and other chemicals.

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/...

via @biomednews.bsky.social #livingmaterials #ELMs

includes research on: living chemical factories, acoustic shape-morphing micromachines, higher performance artificial muscles, ecological Catch-22, & more 🧪

Artificial Symbiosis for Bulk Production of Bacterial Cellulose Composites Co-cultivation of the cellulose-producing bacterium with the microalga enables bulk formation of bacterial cellulose under static incubation, with photosynthetically active oxygen-generating sites th...

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/...

via @biomednews.bsky.social #livingmaterials #ELMs

includes research on: bacterial cellulose composites (h/t @proftomellis.bsky.social, @vignolinilab.bsky.social), living bioelectronics devices, & more 🧪

Light-Responsive Protein Hydrogels Bridge Molecular Mechanics and Frequency-Dependent Mechanotransduction Dynamic extracellular matrix mechanics regulate fundamental cellular processes, yet precise control over spatiotemporal rigidity modulation remains challenging. Protein-based photoresponsive hydrogels...

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:

biomed.news/bims-enlima/...

via @biomednews.bsky.social #livingmaterials #ELMs

includes research on: remote controlled proteins, volumetric bioprinting, light-responsive protein hydrogels, biocatalytic surfaces in architecture, & more 🧪

Electrogenic protein condensates as intracellular electrochemical reactors - Nature Materials Protein condensates are engineered with tunable interfacial electric fields to drive electrochemical reactions, serving as a biomaterial platform for intrinsic electrogenic materials.

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:

biomed.news/bims-enlima/...

via @biomednews.bsky.social #livingmaterials #ELMs

includes research on: electrochemical reactors, supramolecular hydrogels, transcriptome storage in mammalian cells & more🧪

A figure with different panels representing segment design of random heteropolymers as protein mimics. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09860-9

Latest issues of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:

4 Jan 2026: biomed.news/bims-enlima/...

11 Jan 2026: biomed.news/bims-enlima/...

via @biomednews.bsky.social

includes research on: polymers as enzyme mimics, biohybrids, gated enzymes & more 🧪 #ELMs

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Genetically Encoded SpyTag Enables Modular AAV Retargeting via SpyCatcher-Fused Ligands for Targeted Gene Delivery Recombinant adeno-associated viral (rAAV) vectors are a leading platform for in vivo gene therapy, valued for their excellent safety, broad serotype diversity, and scalable production. Targeted delivery through capsid display of ligands holds great promise, yet current retargeting strategies often rely on extensive capsid re-engineering and restrict the use of ligands incompatible with intracellular expression systems. Here, we present a modular AAV retargeting platform that, for the first time, employs the SpyTag/SpyCatcher system via genetic integration into the AAV2 capsid. SpyTag is a small peptide that forms a covalent, irreversible bond with its protein partner, SpyCatcher, allowing site-specific ligand coupling under physiological conditions. Inserting SpyTag into surface-exposed capsid sites enabled postassembly functionalization of AAVs with SpyCatcher-fused targeting proteins. As proof of concept, we used SpyCatcher fusions with designed ankyrin repeat proteins (DARPins) specific for EGFR, EpCAM, and HER2. This conferred highly specific transduction of corresponding cancer cell lines with minimal off-target activity. Therapeutic potential was demonstrated by delivering a suicide gene, inducing selective cancer cell killing upon prodrug administration. This “one-fits-all” platform allows rapid and flexible retargeting without significantly altering the underlying vectors genome or production process. It supports the incorporation of large or complex ligands not amenable to genetic fusion and facilitates high-throughput preclinical evaluation strategies. By uniting capsid engineering with modular ligand display, our approach provides a scalable and versatile framework for precision gene delivery, broadening the applicability of rAAV in both therapeutic and discovery settings.

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/... #ELMs
via @biomednews.bsky.social #livingmaterials

includes research on: designing synthetic regulatory elements, ligands engineering for targeted gene delivery (h/t @wilfriedweber.bsky.social), & more🧪

MultiCell: geometric learning in multicellular development - Nature Methods MultiCell is a deep learning method to capture complex cell dynamics during multicellular development.

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/... #ELMs
via @biomednews.bsky.social #livingmaterials

includes research on: protein waves in living cells, geometric learning in multicellular development &more🧪

Merry Christmas and Happy Happy Holidays 🎄🎅 🥳

Biomaterial-minimalistic photoactivated bioprinting of cell-dense tissues We developed a bioprinting strategy that turns living cells into cell-only bioinks, enabling light-based 3D bioprinting of tissues at native, ultrahigh cell densities (up to ∼109 cells mL−1) to rapidl...

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/... #ELMs
via @biomednews.bsky.social #livingmaterials

includes research on: bioprinting minimalism (h/t @cellpress.bsky.social) , programmable death of artificial cell, electrogenic living hydrogels, & more 🧪

Engineered living materials: emerging frontiers in therapeutic innovation and management of skin disorders.
Afrose, Naureen et al.
Paper
Details
#EngineeredLivingMaterials #TherapeuticInnovation #SkinDisordersResearch

Synthetic cells by the numbers Mathematical biosciences; Experimental models in systems biology; Synthetic biology

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/... #ELMs
via @biomednews.bsky.social #livingmaterials

includes research on: synthetic cells, ELMs design principles, muscle-powered robots, & more 🧪

Acoustic printing of conductive polymers | PNAS Fabricating materials within optically opaque structures, such as biological tissue, is a considerable challenge. Recently, ultrasound-based printi...

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/... #ELMs
via @biomednews.bsky.social #livingmaterials

includes research on: acoustic printing of conductive polymers, fungal ELMs, DNA origami membranes, & more 🧪

3D necroprinting: Leveraging biotic material as the nozzle for 3D printing Dead mosquitoes find new life as ultrafine 3D printer nozzles, enabling sustainable microscale manufacturing.

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/... #ELMs
via @biomednews.bsky.social #livingmaterials

includes research on: 3D necroprinting, self-assembling protein materials, directed self-assembly of 3D interconnected networks & more 🧪

A molecularly impermeable polymer from two-dimensional polyaramids - Nature Two-dimensional polyaramid polymers are synthesized to form nanofilms that exhibit the lowest gas permeability of any polymer by orders of magnitude, despite lacking crystallinity, enabling molec...

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/... #ELMs
via @biomednews.bsky.social #livingmaterials

includes research on: molecularly impermeable polymer, , soft photoresponsive hydrogel, pollen-inspired biopolymer-based multifunctional films, & more 🧪

Vector-stimuli-responsive magnetorheological fibrous materials - Nature Vector-stimuli-responsive magnetorheological fibrous materials can be mass-produced, which can be assembled into yarns and woven into a variety of fabrics with actuation and stiffening abilities.

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/... #ELMs
via @biomednews.bsky.social

includes research on: vector-stimuli-responsive magnetorheological fibrous materials, mechanophore crosslinkers, humidity responsive origami metamaterials, & more 🧪

Photosynthetic Biomanufacturing in Mechanically Robust, 3D Printed Hydrogels Engineered living materials (ELMs) integrate synthetic polymers with engineered cells to create systems that sense, respond, and adapt to their environment. While promising as sustainable alternatives...

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/... #ELMs
via @biomednews.bsky.social

includes research on: photosynthetic #biomanufacuturing, programming cellular condensates for living material, DNA synthetic cells, & more 🧪

I’m a mentor to the high school KhanLab-BayArea @iGEM. They made #engineeredlivingmaterials with advice from me @kelsey DeFrates @jingjieyeo.bsky.social @cheveran.bsky.social The team earned a Gold Medal and were nominated for a special award. Thanks to @NSF for supporting this broader impact.

a group of people standing in front of a building with the words grant secured ALT: a group of people standing in front of a building with the words grant secured

I also want to acknowledge the funding from @maxplanck.de & European Innovation Council #EIC #EICPathfinder #EngineeredLivingMaterials @ec.europa.eu @bgerratana.bsky.social

Bottom-up design of Ca2+ channels from defined selectivity filter geometry - Nature De novo design of Ca2+ channels with ion selectivity that can assemble appropriately and mediate Ca2+ conductance when expressed in cells is described.

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/... #ELMs
via @biomednews.bsky.social

includes research on: bottom-up design of Ca2+ channels, nanomaterial-induced mitochondrial biogenesis, enhanced toughness in highly entangled hydrogels, & more 🧪

Applications of synthetic polymers directed toward living cells - Nature Synthesis Cell-based polymerization offers a promising avenue for integrating synthetic chemistry with biological systems. By leveraging cellular machinery, native chemical environments and external stimuli, th...

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/... #ELMs
via @biomednews.bsky.social

includes research on: review of synthetic polymers directed towards living cells, molecular bridges, ATP-powered signaling b/w artificial and living cells, & more 🧪

Boolean logic-gated protein presentation through autonomously compiled molecular topology - Nature Chemical Biology Programming stimulus responsiveness into living systems enables advanced biocomputation. Here, the authors autonomously compile proteins with defined topology that can be site-specifically tethered to and conditionally released from biomaterials and cells following user-specified Boolean logic.

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/... #ELMs
via @biomednews.bsky.social

includes research on: boolean logic-gated protein presentation (h/t @coledeforest.bsky.social), bacterial grown living materials (h/t @proftomellis.bsky.social) & more 🧪

Cell-selective multiplexed bioorthogonal noncanonical amino acid tagging for nascent proteomics - Nature Chemical Biology Engineered aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (aaRS) mutants have been developed that facilitate ultrafast bioorthogonal noncanonical amino acid tagging (BONCAT) of newly synthesized proteins in diverse bacteria, including ESKAPE pathogens. The substrate polyspecificity of the aaRS mutants enables pulse-chase BONCAT and differential tagging of temporally distinct nascent proteomes in cells.

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/... #ELMs
via @biomednews.bsky.social

includes research on: chemical biology for nascent proteomics (h/t @achemsynbio.bsky.social), designer protein materials (h/t @natmater.nature.com) & more 🧪

What a wonderful meeting it was! #EngineeredLivingMaterials