MIT engineers have succeeded in creating "biofilms", which combine bacterial cells with nonliving materials, such as gold nanoparticles, that can conduct electricity or emit light.
The hope is that biofilm, that slippery, slimy material made of bacteria that forms substances like dental plaque, may someday create functioning circuits that could be used to manufacture photovoltaic solar panels or act as "biosensors" that could sense toxins.
The hybrid biofilms have the attributes of living cells, which reproduce and assemble into structure and react to their environment, and materials such as metal that can conduct electricity.
The researchers used E. coli bacteria for their initial experiments because the biofilms produced with it contain "curli fibers", protein chains that help material attach to surfaces. The curli fibers can be modified by adding peptides, which trap nonliving nanoparticles, such as gold or quantum dots, a semiconductor material the size of a nano particle that can be embedded into living cells. The result is a biofilm that reproduces and can conduct electricity.
The research, lead by Timothy Lu, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and biological engineering, was published in the March 23 issue of the journal Nature Materials.
The hope is that biofilm, that slippery, slimy material made of bacteria that forms substances like dental plaque, may someday create functioning circuits that could be used to manufacture photovoltaic solar panels or act as "biosensors" that could sense toxins.
The hybrid biofilms have the attributes of living cells, which reproduce and assemble into structure and react to their environment, and materials such as metal that can conduct electricity.
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| An artist's rendering of a bacterial cell engineered to produce amyloid nanofibers that incorporate particles such as quantum dots (red and green spheres) or gold nanoparticles. |
The researchers used E. coli bacteria for their initial experiments because the biofilms produced with it contain "curli fibers", protein chains that help material attach to surfaces. The curli fibers can be modified by adding peptides, which trap nonliving nanoparticles, such as gold or quantum dots, a semiconductor material the size of a nano particle that can be embedded into living cells. The result is a biofilm that reproduces and can conduct electricity.
The research, lead by Timothy Lu, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and biological engineering, was published in the March 23 issue of the journal Nature Materials.
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