Bioactive Lattices

Could future materials sense and communicate environmental data?

We collaborate with UPenn’s Dumo Lab and crafting plastics! company.  To develop  biopolymer lattices for interior partitions to detect and remediate air pollutants and pathogens. The basic biointeractive module of this project is a DNA-based expression system of active proteins embedded in polymer lattice structures for indoor spaces  that can interact with the surrounding air and facilitate biochemical processes of pollutants detection and remediation.

Indoor air is  crucial for human health, learning, productivity, and well-being as most people spend over 90% of their lives indoors.  Respiratory infections like flu and pneumonia, which are leading causes of death in the U.S. and worldwide, have a higher transmission risk indoors. Poor indoor air quality is also linked to asthma and allergies, significantly affecting the quality of life. In this project we envision biologically active indoor surfaces for monitoring and remediating indoor air. 

This platform operates at three design scales: (i) supporting cell-free protein expression within the biopolymer matrix (microscale), (ii) tailoring porosity and strength in 2D lattices for both biological function and structural integrity (mesoscale), and (iii) fabricating large, foldable, and biologically active indoor surfaces (macroscale). Initial experiments embedded commercially available cell-free protein expression systems within silk fibroin and sodium alginate biopolymers, using green fluorescent protein as a reporter. We further demonstrated press-fitting freeze-dried bioactive pellets into a printed foldable biopolymer lattice. These findings represent a significant step towards modular multiscale fabrication of large structures with designated biologically active zones.

Our work highlights the potential and challenges of incorporating cell-free protein expression systems within custom-printed structures relevant for consumer products and human habitats. This paves the way for next-generation products and architectural elements with embedded biological functionalities for healthier and more sustainable built environments.

Faculty:

Dr. Katia Zolotovsky (Assistant Professor, CAMD + COS), Dr. Laia Mogas-Soldevila ( Assistant Professor, Weizman Graduate Architecture, Penn), Dr. Anreas Merchin (No Lable Group, MIT )

Collaborators:

Vlasta Kubušová (PhD Candidate, Slovak University of Technology, crafting plastics! studio), Camila Irabien (Undergraduate Researcher, Penn Microbiology), Abby Weinstein (Undergraduate Researcher, Penn Design), Shivani Chawla (Undergraduate Researcher, Penn Materials Science), Gabriele Ho (PhD Candidate, Penn Bioengineering), Victor Li (Undergraduate Researcher, Penn Architecture).