The Development of 3D Printable Living Microreactors for the Detoxification of Organophosphates

Engineered Living Materials (ELMs) present an exciting opportunity to integrate and scale outputs from synthetic biology. However, ELM fabrication and performance are somewhat limited by the need for both matrix cytocompatibility and fabricability. Idealy, the living component should interface with and modulate the bulk structure of a material. Accordingly, we present the rational design and testing of living composites where expression of an artificial oxidoreductase by E. coli suspended in an ionogel bioink drives redox-mediated formation of a self-healing interpenetrating double network. Moreover, we demonstrate that this new class of ELMs can be 3D bioprinted to produce perfusable bacterial microreactors that actively detoxify organophosphates.