Descrizione del progetto
Un nuovo «organo» omeostatico per materiali viventi ingegnerizzati
Ogni tipo di sistema ingegnerizzato è progettato per mantenere le proprie proprietà in presenza di cambiamenti ambientali: un esempio è rappresentato dai rivestimenti fisici o chimici resistenti alla temperatura o all’umidità. Queste strutture non sono adattabili; al contrario, esse rimangono invariate registrando un declino indistinguibile delle funzioni nel corso del tempo a causa dell’usura e dei danni. La vera omeostasi, ovvero l’adattamento all’ambiente per riportare il valore di alcuni parametri a un livello prefissato nonostante le fluttuazioni, non si riscontra nei materiali ingegnerizzati, neppure se viventi. Il progetto STEADY, finanziato dall’UE, intende colmare questa lacuna con un sistema omeostatico modulare composto da un sensore, un controllore e un attuatore che agiranno di concerto per orientare un materiale verso il valore di riferimento desiderato.
Obiettivo
Engineered Living Materials (ELMs) are dynamically emerging at the intersection of synthetic biology and materials sciences and are providing solutions in a rapidly growing number of application fields. Current areas of application comprise, for example, biomedicine, textiles, sensors, soft robotics, electronics, or construction materials. From a conceptual point of view, ELMs provide the opportunity of endowing materials with properties and functions long sought for in materials sciences, such as adaptivity and interactivity, evolvability, hierarchical design, self-reproduction, energy harvesting from the environment, synthesis from renewable resources, as well as biodegradability. Despite intensive research, however, a key defining property of life is largely missing in ELMs, that is homeostasis. Homeostasis is the ability of a system to maintain an inner steady state despite external fluctuations that impact this state. For example, mammals maintain a constant body temperature despite varying external temperatures. In STEADY, we will develop and test the concept of engineering homeostasis into living materials. To this aim, we will develop three genetically encoded modules, (i) a sensor to sense the actual state of a specific mechanical property of the material, (ii) a controller to process the sensor signal, and (iii) an actuator, that, based on the controller’s output, steers the material towards the setpoint. The design of the homeostatic system will be highly modular, so that the sensor and actuator can be adapted in order to maintain homeostasis for other properties or functions of the material. The tools developed here are not restricted to ELMs but may also be used to confer homeostasis to polymer-based soft materials with regard to maintaining a desired feature. Thus, STEADY will open novel opportunities for engineering materials to be robust and resilient to changing environmental conditions.
Campo scientifico
- natural sciencesbiological sciencessynthetic biology
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringtextiles
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringroboticssoft robotics
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinephysiologyhomeostasis
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsIstituzione ospitante
66123 Saarbruecken
Germania