rahma zakaria
how to grow almost anything
home | htgaa


bioprinting


The objective of this lab was to 3D-print bioink containing chromophore-expressing E. coli. The steps in this process were:
  1. Transform plasmid for chromophore production into E. coli (which was done on week 4
  2. Mix overnight cultures of the bacteria with the Pluronic material at the desired ratio
  3. Load bioink into 3D printer and print

The Pluronic material is thermoresponsive - liquid at 4C, but solidifies at room temperature. We needed to have the appropriate ratio of the Pluronic material to the liquid culture, such that the bioink would be printable. We mixed a 1:3 mixture of culture to Pluronic material by cooling the Pluronic in the refrigerator until it was liquid, adding the liquid culture, and mixing before the material solidified. We had to keep the material refrigerated to be able to properly mix the material. Then, we tested the texture of the mixture by pipetting the material and seeing whether we could create layers.

Unfortunately we did not test our material enough and the mixture was too liquidy, so it could not create layers while 3D printing. In the future we would prepare mixtures of various ratios and make sure to properly test each mixture to see how well it solidifies and whether it can form layers.