Week 13: Bio Design, Living Materials

Week 13 cover Week 13 cover

Context
This week focuses on engineered living materials (ELMs) and bio-based design—materials that incorporate living cells (or biologically grown matter) to achieve properties like sensing, self-healing, and biodegradability.

Goals

  • Survey the landscape of living materials (bacterial cellulose, engineered biofilms, mycelium composites, algae-based materials).
  • Frame a use-case and a design concept (function, organism, matrix, lifecycle).
  • Consider safety, containment, and environmental impact at a concept level.

Part A — Rapid landscape scan (mini-review)

Create a 6–10 bullet mini-review that covers:

  • At least three classes of living/bio-grown materials (e.g., engineered bacterial biofilms, mycelium composites, algal biopolymers, bacterial cellulose pellicles).
  • One strength and one limitation for each class (stability, rate of growth, hydration/processing, biosafety).
  • 3–5 external references (papers, reviews, or credible overviews).

Tip: Look for high-level reviews on ELMs, plus concrete examples from design/architecture.

Part B — Concept sketch (your living material)

Write a one-pager describing a living material concept:

  1. Purpose / scenario — What job should the material do (e.g., humidity-responsive façade tile, self-healing fill, low-energy lighting, degradable packaging)?
  2. Biology — Which organism(s) and why (traits, growth conditions, containment considerations)?
  3. Matrix / form — What scaffold or composite? Film, foam, “brick,” hydrogel, textile, or printed shell?
  4. Signals & response — What should it sense or do? (e.g., color change, conductivity change, mechanical strength, VOC capture)
  5. Lifecycle — Sourcing, use, end-of-life (compost, deactivation, reuse).
  6. Risks & mitigations — Non-pathogenic strains; kill-switch ideas; storage/transport constraints; disposal.

Add one figure (hand sketch or diagram) and a short materials/parts list (conceptual—no lab protocol required).

Part C — “Feasibility notes”

Add a short section (6–8 bullets) on what you’d need to test next:

  • Minimum growth time / production rate
  • Moisture and temperature envelope
  • Mechanical or optical property you’d measure first
  • Containment plan (transport, dormancy, disposal)
  • What a simple benchtop mock (no live cells) could tell you

Deliverables

  • Mini-review (Part A) with 3–5 references
  • Concept one-pager + diagram (Part B)
  • Feasibility notes (Part C)
  • 2–3 illustrative images (own sketches/mockups are fine)

References / jumping-off points