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Designing photosynthetic living materials with synthetic biology
Living materials, as an emerging field that combines biology and material science, are materials composed of immobilized living organisms and a carrier matrix providing pre-determined bio-functionality. [1,2] Living materials bring about new properties that are not easily realised by conventional materials. Here, we aim to design a new type of living materials that can sequester and store atmospheric CO2 irreversibly in the form of calcium carbonate minerals.
Keywords: living materials, synthetic biology, microorganisms
Photosynthetic living materials have been used to sequester and store atmospheric CO2 in the form of biomass and calcium carbonate minerals [3]. Building upon the existing platform, we are aiming to enhance the performance and efficiency of the current design. To do so, we make use of the synthetic biology toolbox, to enable the surface display of different versions of calcium-binding proteins. The increase in local calcium concentration will allow faster calcium carbonate precipitation, thus enabling better CO2 sequestration ability of the living materials
Photosynthetic living materials have been used to sequester and store atmospheric CO2 in the form of biomass and calcium carbonate minerals [3]. Building upon the existing platform, we are aiming to enhance the performance and efficiency of the current design. To do so, we make use of the synthetic biology toolbox, to enable the surface display of different versions of calcium-binding proteins. The increase in local calcium concentration will allow faster calcium carbonate precipitation, thus enabling better CO2 sequestration ability of the living materials
The goal of this project is:
1. To learn the workflow of bacterial conjugation;
2. To quantify the calcium binding ability of the various versions of calcium binding protein, and;
3. To quantify the CO2 sequestration ability of the photosynthetic living materials.
**References:**
1. Liu, S., & Xu, W. (2020). Engineered living materials-based sensing and actuation. Frontiers in Sensors, 1, 586300.
2. Molinari, S., Tesoriero Jr, R. F., & Ajo-Franklin, C. M. (2021). Bottom-up approaches to engineered living materials: Challenges and future directions. Matter, 4(10), 3095-3120.
3. Dranseike, D., Cui, Y., Ling, A. S., Donat, F., Bernhard, S., Bernero, M., ... & Tibbitt, M. W. (2023). Dual carbon sequestration with photosynthetic living materials. bioRxiv.
The goal of this project is:
1. To learn the workflow of bacterial conjugation;
2. To quantify the calcium binding ability of the various versions of calcium binding protein, and;
3. To quantify the CO2 sequestration ability of the photosynthetic living materials.
**References:**
1. Liu, S., & Xu, W. (2020). Engineered living materials-based sensing and actuation. Frontiers in Sensors, 1, 586300.
2. Molinari, S., Tesoriero Jr, R. F., & Ajo-Franklin, C. M. (2021). Bottom-up approaches to engineered living materials: Challenges and future directions. Matter, 4(10), 3095-3120.
3. Dranseike, D., Cui, Y., Ling, A. S., Donat, F., Bernhard, S., Bernero, M., ... & Tibbitt, M. W. (2023). Dual carbon sequestration with photosynthetic living materials. bioRxiv.
