The development of hybrid biomaterials for regenerative engineering

Reengineering cells to operate effectively in biological systems invariably involves the assembly of multiple components, which can only be integrated when compatible interfaces are built into the design. This can be achieved through the synthesis of hybrid materials comprising highly cooperative biological and synthetic constituents that can be used to amplify or attenuate host tissue interactions. The systems methodology that underpins this design approach provides a gateway to the development of non-traditional approaches to regenerative medicine. Accordingly, I describe three emerging research programmes that span the fields of synthetic biology, biomaterials, and regenerative engineering: Stem Cell Painting, where artificial membrane binding proteins undergo spontaneous assembly at the plasma membrane of stem cells; Cell Paintballing, where microdroplet vectors are controlled optically to deliver bimolecular payloads to specific membranous regions of individual cells; and ThreeDimensional Bioprinting, where a new hybrid microporous bioink is used to print stem cell laden tissue-like constructs.