Materials Manufactured from 3D-Printed Synthetic Biology Arrays: Cell Chassis for Synthetic Biomaterial Production

A design for a combination of host cell strain (an easy-to-work-with microbe) and plasmid backbone ('wrapper' sequences of DNA with a ready-made place to insert the gene coding for a new material) that provides all the necessary support to use this technique for production of user-chosen materials.

The chassis will provide the following support functions, each of which will be optimized for production of structured, non-living biomaterials:

• control of the rate of material production (e.g., gene expression promotion)
• a material delivery method (e.g., secretion),
• compatibility with a material purification method (e.g., epitope binding sites)
• optional material production verification (e.g., fluorescence tagging).

This cell chassis will be designed to enable the production of human-designed, non-living biomaterials.  The same chassis can, with modifications, support other applications, such as the following:

• controlled production of existing non-living materials
• production of living material (foodstuffs, tissues)
• production of living/non-living composites (e.g., biocompatible materials for medical devices)
• production of model systems for biogeochemical or origin-of-life studies

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 2) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.