Summary
A fundamental difference between man-made and living matter is metabolism: the ability to dissipate
chemical energy to drive many different chemical processes out of equilibrium. Metabolism endows
chemical systems within living organisms with properties that are standard in biology but odd in chemistry:
the capability to process information, to move and to react to the external world.
My goal is to endow soft materials with dynamic life-like properties. I have chosen four: molecular
computation, movement, self-construction and the capacity to entertain complex chemical conversations
with living cells. To do so I will embed stimuli-responsive materials with a biocompatible synthetic
metabolism capable of sustaining autonomous chemical feedback loops that process information and
perform autonomous macroscopic actions. My approach combines concepts from systems chemistry,
synthetic biology and DNA molecular programming with soft materials and uses a biochemical system
that I have contributed to pioneer: DNA/enzyme active solutions that remain out of equilibrium by
consuming a chemical fuel with non-trivial reaction kinetics. This system has three unique properties:
programmability, biocompatibility and a long-term metabolic autonomy.
Metabolic matter will be assembled in two stages: i) enabling metabolic materials with dynamic chemical,
biological and mechanical responses, and ii) creating metabolic materials with unprecedented properties,
in particular, the capacity of self-construction, which I will seek by emulating embryogenesis, and
the ability to autonomously pattern a community of living cells. By doing this I will create for the first
time chemical matter that is both dynamically and structurally complex, thus bringing into the realm of
synthetic chemistry behaviors that so far only existed in biological systems. In the long term, metabolic
matter could provide revolutionary solutions for soft robotics and tissue engineering
chemical energy to drive many different chemical processes out of equilibrium. Metabolism endows
chemical systems within living organisms with properties that are standard in biology but odd in chemistry:
the capability to process information, to move and to react to the external world.
My goal is to endow soft materials with dynamic life-like properties. I have chosen four: molecular
computation, movement, self-construction and the capacity to entertain complex chemical conversations
with living cells. To do so I will embed stimuli-responsive materials with a biocompatible synthetic
metabolism capable of sustaining autonomous chemical feedback loops that process information and
perform autonomous macroscopic actions. My approach combines concepts from systems chemistry,
synthetic biology and DNA molecular programming with soft materials and uses a biochemical system
that I have contributed to pioneer: DNA/enzyme active solutions that remain out of equilibrium by
consuming a chemical fuel with non-trivial reaction kinetics. This system has three unique properties:
programmability, biocompatibility and a long-term metabolic autonomy.
Metabolic matter will be assembled in two stages: i) enabling metabolic materials with dynamic chemical,
biological and mechanical responses, and ii) creating metabolic materials with unprecedented properties,
in particular, the capacity of self-construction, which I will seek by emulating embryogenesis, and
the ability to autonomously pattern a community of living cells. By doing this I will create for the first
time chemical matter that is both dynamically and structurally complex, thus bringing into the realm of
synthetic chemistry behaviors that so far only existed in biological systems. In the long term, metabolic
matter could provide revolutionary solutions for soft robotics and tissue engineering
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More information & hyperlinks
| Web resources: | https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/770940 |
| Start date: | 01-06-2018 |
| End date: | 31-05-2024 |
| Total budget - Public funding: | 1 899 333,00 Euro - 1 899 333,00 Euro |
Cordis data
Original description
A fundamental difference between man-made and living matter is metabolism: the ability to dissipatechemical energy to drive many different chemical processes out of equilibrium. Metabolism endows
chemical systems within living organisms with properties that are standard in biology but odd in chemistry:
the capability to process information, to move and to react to the external world.
My goal is to endow soft materials with dynamic life-like properties. I have chosen four: molecular
computation, movement, self-construction and the capacity to entertain complex chemical conversations
with living cells. To do so I will embed stimuli-responsive materials with a biocompatible synthetic
metabolism capable of sustaining autonomous chemical feedback loops that process information and
perform autonomous macroscopic actions. My approach combines concepts from systems chemistry,
synthetic biology and DNA molecular programming with soft materials and uses a biochemical system
that I have contributed to pioneer: DNA/enzyme active solutions that remain out of equilibrium by
consuming a chemical fuel with non-trivial reaction kinetics. This system has three unique properties:
programmability, biocompatibility and a long-term metabolic autonomy.
Metabolic matter will be assembled in two stages: i) enabling metabolic materials with dynamic chemical,
biological and mechanical responses, and ii) creating metabolic materials with unprecedented properties,
in particular, the capacity of self-construction, which I will seek by emulating embryogenesis, and
the ability to autonomously pattern a community of living cells. By doing this I will create for the first
time chemical matter that is both dynamically and structurally complex, thus bringing into the realm of
synthetic chemistry behaviors that so far only existed in biological systems. In the long term, metabolic
matter could provide revolutionary solutions for soft robotics and tissue engineering
Status
SIGNEDCall topic
ERC-2017-COGUpdate Date
27-04-2024
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