April 22 - 26, 2024
Seattle, Washington
May 7 - 9, 2024 (Virtual)

Event Supporters

2024 MRS Spring Meeting
SB06.04.04

Selective Hydrogel Membranes for Modular SynBio Processing Units

When and Where

Apr 24, 2024
9:00am - 9:15am
Room 427, Level 4, Summit

Presenter(s)

Co-Author(s)

Claire Benstead1,Maria Politi1,David Bergsman1,Lilo Pozzo1

University of Washington1

Abstract

Claire Benstead1,Maria Politi1,David Bergsman1,Lilo Pozzo1

University of Washington1
Industrial microbiology has great potential in modernizing chemical manufacturing, particularly in the synthesis of high value products (HVPs) and precursors. To further mitigate issues within manufacturing regarding high energy consumption, environmental pollution, and slow response times to demand fluctuations, we can look to decentralized production and modular processing units. Hydrogels are 3D networks of crosslinked hydrophilic polymers that can retain large amounts of water without dissolution. Their rheological properties, cytocompatibility, and structural capabilities allow them a wide range of applications, including cell encapsulation, drug delivery, and membrane technologies. By encapsulating engineered microbes in hydrogel membranes, we can create engineered living materials (ELMs) capable of on-demand activation, continuous bioproduction using simple raw materials like glucose, and membrane-based separations of the biomanufactured HVPs. We first investigate the application of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate/glycerol (PEGDA-Gly) hydrogels as semi-permeable membranes, including morphological characterization with high-throughput screening of Small Angle X-RAY Scattering (SAXS) and automated permeability testing. We further investigate the performance of these PEGDA-Gly membranes as ELMs by encapsulating betaxanthin-producing <i>S. cerevisiae </i>and assessing cell viability and productivity.

Keywords

morphology | polymer

Symposium Organizers

Neel Joshi, Northeastern University
Eleni Stavrinidou, Linköping University
Bozhi Tian, University of Chicago
Claudia Tortiglione, Istituto di Scienze Applicate e Sistemi Intelligenti

Symposium Support

Bronze
Cell Press

Session Chairs

Eleni Stavrinidou
Claudia Tortiglione

In this Session