Designed Multifunctional Spider Silk Enabled by Genetically Encoded Click Chemistry

Spider silk is recognized for its exceptional mechanical properties and biocompatibility, making it a versatile platform for developing functional materials. In this study, a modular functionalization strategy for recombinant spider silk is presented using SpyTag/SpyCatcher chemistry, a prototype of genetically encoded click chemistry. The...

Multifunctional implants Prevention is better than cure

Millions of people around the globe receive orthopedic implants every year. These implants help people to regain their mobility and contribute tremendously to improve the quality of life. However, a significant number of patients suffer from complications, such as implant associated infections (IAI) and aseptic loosening. The number of...

Additive Manufacturing of Biomaterials: Design Principles and Their Implementation

Additive manufacturing (AM, also known as 3D printing) is an advanced manufacturing technique that has enabled progress in the design and fabrication of customised or patient-specific (meta-)biomaterials and biomedical devices (e.g., implants, prosthetics, and orthotics) with complex internal microstructures and tuneable properties. In the past...

3D-Printed Submicron Patterns Reveal the Interrelation between Cell Adhesion, Cell Mechanics, and Osteogenesis

The surface topography of implantable devices is of crucial importance for guiding the cascade of events that starts from the initial contact of the cells with the surface and continues until the complete integration of the device in its immediate environment. There is, however, limited quantitative information available regarding the...

Imitating nature to produce nacre-inspired composite materials with bacteria

In this study, a method for the bacterial production of a nacre-mimicking composite material was developed. Nacre (mother-of-pearl) is an organic-inorganic composite found in the inner lining of many mollusk shells and in pearls. It has a brick-and-mortar structure consisting of 95% aragonite (calcium carbonate) platelets and 5% organic matrix....

Engineered 3D Polymer and Hydrogel Microenvironments for Cell Culture Applications

The realization of biomimetic microenvironments for cell biology applications such as organ-on-chip, in vitro drug screening, and tissue engineering is one of the most fascinating research areas in the field of bioengineering. The continuous evolution of additive manufacturing techniques provides the tools to engineer these architectures at...

Bacterially Produced, Nacre-Inspired Composite Materials

The impressive mechanical properties of natural composites, such as nacre, arise from their multiscale hierarchical structures, which span from nano- to macroscale and lead to effective energy dissipation. While some synthetic bioinspired materials have achieved the toughness of natural nacre, current production methods are complex and...

Biomaterials and tissue biomechanics: A match made in heaven?

Biomaterials and tissue biomechanics have been traditionally separate areas of research with relatively little overlap in terms of methodological approaches. Recent advances in both fields on the one hand and developments in fabrication techniques and design approaches on the other have prepared the ground for joint research efforts by both...

Mechanics of Biological Tissues and Biomaterials: Current Trends (editorial)

Investigation of the mechanical behavior of biological tissues and biomaterials has been an active area of research for several decades. However, in recent years, the enthusiasm in understanding the mechanical behavior of biological tissues and biomaterials has increased significantly due to the development of novel biomaterials for new fields...

3D Printing with Biomaterials: Towards a Sustainable and Circular Economy

Additive manufacturing or 3D printing, manufacturing a product layer by layer, offers large design freedom and faster product development cycles, as well as low startup cost of production, on-demand production and local production. In principle, any product could be made by additive manufacturing. Even food and living organic cells can be...

Porous titanium for bone substitution: Mechanobiology meets surface science

People in both developing and developed worlds are increasingly facing musculoskeletal problems that require long-term clinical performance of orthopaedic implants including bone substitutes. Porous biomaterials could play an important role in improving the longevity and overall performance of orthopaedic implants and that is why they have been...

Silver-based antibacterial surfaces for bone implants

Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is the most effective and safest method for treating severe degenerative, post-traumatic and other diseases of the joints. With an aging population that is increasingly active, the use of biomedical implants will continue to rise. It is estimated that more than 1,000,000 THAs are performed each year globally....

Biomaterials

The metabolic pathways of living organisms produce biomaterials. Hence, in principle biomaterials are fully sustainable. This does not mean that their processing and application have no impact on the environment, e.g. the recycling of natural rubber remains a problem. Biomaterials are applied in a wide range of consumer products, varying from...

Protein metal complexes as reversible sacrificial bonds in self-healing biopolymers

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