ABOVE: Building material made from cyanobacteria and sand
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE AT COLORADO UNIVERSITY BOULDER
Bacteria and sand can be combined to form a living material that acts like concrete, according to a study published in Matter yesterday (January 15). Researchers led by Wil Srubar, a civil engineer and head of the Living Materials Laboratory at the University of Colorado Boulder, combined sand and hydrogel, an absorbent network of polymers, to form a scaffold. Then they added a species of Synechococcus, a photosynthetic cyanobacteria. The hydrogel provided moisture and nutrients for the bacteria, allowing them to grow and mineralize. The end result was a substance similar in strength to concrete-based mortar.
In this material, the bacteria remained alive and could reproduce. When the researchers cut a brick in half, it grew into two complete bricks with the addition of a bit of sand, hydrogel, and nutrients. However, it ...
