AZoSensors speaks with Tzu-Chieh (Zijay) Tang, a Postdoctoral Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Zijay is one of the authors of a paper documenting the development of what the team terms a deployable physical containment strategy (DEPCOS).
Inspired by Kombucha Tea, Engineers Create “Living Materials” Details
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Engineers at MIT and Imperial College London have developed a new way to generate tough, functional materials using a mixture of bacteria and yeast similar to the “kombucha mother” used to ferment tea.
Engineers at MIT and Imperial College London have developed a new way to generate tough, functional materials using a mixture of bacteria and yeast similar to the “kombucha mother” used to ferment tea.
Using this mixture, also called a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast), the researchers were able to produce cellulose embedded with enzymes that can perform a variety of functions, such as sensing environmental pollutants. They also showed that they could incorporate yeast directly into the material, creating “living materials” that could be used to purify water or to make “smart” packaging materials that can detect damage.
Blue fluorescence caused by the engineered living materials (ELMs)
Imperial and MIT researchers have made smart living materials by engineering microbes to detect and react to their environment.
The materials, known as engineered living materials (ELMs), could be used to detect and filter contaminants in water, in packaging to detect and alert to damage using fluorescence, and act as ‘living photographs’ which display pictures projected onto them.
Our new system moves us forward by creating materials that are scalable and therefore more likely to be useful in the real world Charlie Gilbert Department of Bioengineering
These ELMs are made by a mutually beneficial (symbiotic) combination of yeast and bacteria similar to those found in ‘kombucha mother’ - a mixture used to brew the fermented tea drink kombucha. It is also known as symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY).
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Kombucha-inspired microbial mixture let scientists create ‘living materials’
Imperial and MIT researchers have made smart living materials by engineering microbes to detect and react to their environment.
The materials, known as engineered living materials (ELMs), could be used to detect and filter contaminants in water, in packaging to detect and alert to damage using fluorescence, and act as ‘living photographs’ which display pictures projected onto them.
Our new system moves us forward by creating materials that are scalable and therefore more likely to be useful in the real world Charlie Gilbert Department of Bioengineering
These ELMs are made by a mutually beneficial (symbiotic) combination of yeast and bacteria similar to those found in ‘kombucha mother’ – a mixture used to brew the fermented tea drink kombucha. It is also known as symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY).