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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
In order to better understand and broadly employ living cells and biological processes for applications involving sensing, material synthesis, microactuation and energy conversion requires the development of new strategies to both explore and optimize interfaces between living and non-living components. Multiphoton fabrication, an inherently three dimensional direct-write fabrication approach, provides a potential route for these interfaces to be rapidly prototyped. Microstructures can be fabricated with arbitrary 3D geometries and from biological components (e.g., proteins, enzymes) that retain functionality, enable precise scaffolding and direct mechanical responses to chemical stimuli. I will discuss applications of this approach to direct cell motility for bacterial-based microfluidics as well as define cellular communication to investigate micro-environmental interactions that determine bacterial collective behavior (quorum sensing).