Next Generation: Toward Synthetic Neural Tissue

Scientists produce a tissue-like material containing hundreds of light-activated compartments that transmits an electrical signal when illuminated.

Written byCatherine Offord

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Light-activated gene expression produces protein pores that connect two synthetic cells, allowing the passage of ions (left). When printed in a 3-D tissue–like material, the cells transmit an electrical signal under illumination (right).MICHAEL J. BOOTH

The device: Researchers at the University of Oxford, U.K., have engineered a soft, tissue-like material, built from hundreds of DNA-containing synthetic cells, that can transmit an electrical signal, according to a study published today (April 1) in Science Advances. The expression of genes in each “cell”—a 3-D-printed water droplet surrounded by a single layer of lipids—is light-activated, giving the researchers precise control over the behavior of the material.

“It’s really beautiful work,” said Sheref Mansy, a biochemist who builds cells from scratch at the University of Trento, Italy, and was not involved in the research. “It’s fantastic to be able to show the ability to arrange these synthetic cells so precisely, with communication between the different droplets.”

Each lipid-encased droplet has a volume of 50 ...

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Meet the Author

Catherine Offord
After undergraduate research with spiders at the University of Oxford and graduate research with ants at Princeton University, Catherine left arthropods and academia to become a science journalist. She has worked in various guises at The Scientist since 2016. As Senior Editor, she wrote articles for the online and print publications, and edited the magazine’s Notebook, Careers, and Bio Business sections. She reports on subjects ranging from cellular and molecular biology to research misconduct and science policy. Find more of her work at her website.
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