Wang, Y.-X.; Wu, X.-L.; Zhang, W.-B. Current advance in engineered living materials. Synth. Biol. J. 2022, 3, 621-625. https://synbioj.cip.com.cn/article/2022/2096-8280/2096-8280-2022-3-4-621.shtml

Engineered living materials are an emerging research field at the interface between synthetic biology and materials science (especially, polymer science). While materials science provides the fundamental idea about materials construction and a deep understanding on structure-property relationship, synthetic biology affords the possibility to engineer living organisms to fit into the needs of materials. With the development, crossover, and integration of synthetic biology and materials science, novel responsive engineered living materials have been cotinuously emerging. Recently, an engineered living material based on semi-interpenetrating polymer network was reported by the teams of Dr. Dai Zhuojun at Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology and Prof. You Lingchong at Duke University. This research used the genetic circuit to control the density-dependent cell lysis and the subsequent release of reactive functional proteins which then polymerize in situ to form a semi-interpenetrating network with the chitosan matrix and anchor the effector proteins. The resulting capsule not only protects the cells from the environment, but also becomes resilient to environmental perturbations. This modular approach to engineered living materials holds great promise for diverse applications such as active biological therapy.