Week 1 HW: Principles and Practices

• First, describe a biological engineering application or tool you want to develop and why.

Over the counter pre-formulated bio-kit, acting as a binding agent and/or stabiliser for specific food waste for homemade biomaterials and textiles.

Is there a way I could engineer a biological tool that acts as a binding agent or key ingredient (like a powder or gel) that could be added to specific food waste (e.g. eggshells or coffee waste) to stabilize and turn them into biomaterials and textiles? Would they then preserve the longevity of the materials? Can they then be reused in another way when discarded or act as food for plants? How can they be upscaled? Are they affordable to students and people on a budget?

Since the rise of DIY biomaterials like homemade algae yarns, kombucha leather, eggshell waste jewelry, I wonder if there is a way that we could formulate a product that could reduce all the experimental process with recipes, etc. and dive straight in to the making - like a kit, but just add the suggested amount of specific food waste? This material then could be used to experiment ideas, exploring different forms and shapes, testing out more design focused steps (for art and fashion) instead of experimenting with the consistency of fabrics. This reduces waste and encourages designers or the public to interact with biomaterials and textiles on their own terms, promoting accessibility and inclusivity to everyone and anyone that is interested in incorporating biomaterials and textiles into their creative project.

Why food waste? “When food is wasted, it is not only the end product that is lost, but also all the embedded resources required to produce it, particularly water, energy, and labour.” (Gritto & Beggio, 2025) All resources on earth are valuable, particularly existing materials that could be used instead of more unnecessary production, further depleting natural resources.

• Governance/policy goals

Ethics & regulation: Ensure safety for the public, as it should be accessible to anyone from anywhere to purchase and use. Is this formula ethical? Can we keep up with the positive or negative response of the product? Let’s say alginate as one of the ingredients, can we keep up with the demand for it? Can we promote or encourage constructive uses with this product?

Biosafety: Most of these DIY science projects involve experimenting with pathogenic organisms that are self-replicating and transmissible at home, which poses threats to amateurs that have no knowledge of the hazards (like contamination) they might impose if not dealt with correctly. How can we ensure that this product does not cause ecological and threaten public health if self-replicating organisms escape into the environment?

How do we ensure that the product would be safe to use even for non-biologists to use? How can we accommodate the public that wants to perform experiments at home beyond the hazard classification of BL-1?

Safety & security: “The US government has been concerned about home-grown bioterrorism ever since the anthrax terrorist attacks in 2001.” (Wollinsky, 2009) “When people start assembling complex systems that involve tens to hundreds of genes from a variety of different organisms, those types of experiments outstrip the current biosafety paradigm. There could be unpredictable effects and interactions that might result in self-replicating organisms that escape into the environment and cause ecological damage and even public health threats.” (Wollinsky, 2009) Misuse of this bio technology and homegrown bioterrorism. How do we protect society from misuse and terrorism?

• Actions

Purpose: Regulations on materials that are added to this product.
Design: To ensure the safety standard of this product, people who would be involved include: researchers, safety regulators, production companies and relevant government authorities. Only materials that are certified by the government and relevant authorities should be added to this product.
Assumptions: Research on the materials have to be done intensely so regulations could be placed on the product. Can we ensure that thorough research has been done for regulation?
Risks of Failure & “Success”: Could companies intentionally skip this important step to reduce cost?

Purpose: Provide basic and very important information of the consequences of misuse and potential hazards and danger. Education is key. Not everyone that participates in DIY biomaterials are aware of them as not many recipes found online come with cautions.
Design: When users are more aware of the potential dangers, accidents and misuse could be prevented. This could help to prevent users from performing experiments beyond the hazard classification BL-1 at home. This could be an online platform or an educational directory that comes with the product. People involved would be the manufacturers/production company as well as researchers with this knowledge.
Assumptions: Let’s say this product is intended for misuse, can we do anything about it? Maybe we just have to ensure that this product would not be prone to misuse?
Risks of Failure & “Success”: This would pose potential danger for individuals that have bad intent.

Some of the most common ingredients that are involved in most homemade biomaterials recipes include agar, alginate, gelatin etc. What else can we add on to make it stronger? These are easily accessible ingredients that could be bought anywhere, could we add any medical grade ingredients to the product to make the experiment a guaranteed success?
Purpose: A deeper research into adding ingredients that would enhance the performance of the end product when used correctly. There are plenty of available homemade biomaterials recipes online by users with varied expertise. The experimental process is often time consuming and success is not guarenteed. This product ensures that the end product of made biomaterials are of a good standard for material usage like textiles and materials for art, design and fashion.
Design: To ensure that the product is sustainable in terms usability and guaranteed success of the making of biomaterials and textiles to reduce waste and resources. People who are involved: researchers and the production team/manufacturers formulating this product.
Assumptions: There might not be any extra ingredients that could formulate the product for consistency and accuracy of desired outcomes.
Risks of Failure & “Success”: This could not be a possible product..?

Understanding the rise of DIY biomaterials as a result of trends and hype is not a stranger but I was intrigued by bioterrorism as it is completely new to me. As someone who also jumped into homegrown biomaterials without safety training or biology background, I was not aware of potential dangers and threats that come with doing experiments with pathogenic organisms. To ensure the safety of individuals’ safety when handling experiments at home, there should be disclaimers that come with the published recipes online. Relevant authority regulators could block or take down content that is not certified. A good way is to have a platform that caters to specific home bio experiments that could be regularly checked for potential dangers and spreading the right information regarding bio experiments. With the biological tools that I have learnt the past week as well as the biobootcamp, it might be possible to design a product accessible to everyone that helps prevent major misuse and enhance safety to these homegrown bio experiments.

• References + Bibliography

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/engineering-biology-aspirations-report/engineering-biology-aspirations Engineering biology aspirations: report
https://naturelab.risd.edu/discover/biomaterials-you-can-make-at-home/ Biomaterials recipe
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2727445/ Kitchen biology. The rise of do-it-yourself biology democratizes science, but is it dangerous to public health and the environment?
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12504206/#sec6 From burden to backbone: the regenerative potential of food waste through digital, biological, and technological innovation
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772801325000624#sec0017 Fashioning the future: Bio-based textiles, circular innovation, and sustainability in emerging markets
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451929421005180#sec2 Bioengineering textiles across scales for a sustainable circular economy
https://www.britannica.com/technology/materials-science/General-requirements-of-biomaterials General requirements of biomaterials
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Which_materials_are_used_as_natural_binders_for_biocomposite_making Which materials are used as natural binders for biocomposite making?
https://www.smartfashion.news/blog/agar-vs-gelatin-in-diy-bio-textiles-building-sustainable-alternatives-for-leather-fabric-amp-fashion Agar vs. Gelatin in DIY Bio-Textiles: Building Sustainable Alternatives for Leather, Fabric & Fashion