Wildcard Week Bioprinting
In the self-described assignment for this week, I chose to work with the bioprinting group. I decided to test if it's possible to create color effects with bacteria that were modified to fluoresce under UV light. So I started out with a more complex design, extruded in different heights to see if the fluorescence would be stronger in the taller parts of the design, creating a gradient effect.
But this would take many hours to print, so we simplified the print model to this one:
THE PROCESS
We started out learning about how the bacteria are modified and cultured, and we made simple hand-made designs (the leaf, below). After that, we tested the printing process in the pure gelified solution (without bacteria). The final part was to print the model in a solution of gel with the cultured bacteria and test the print under UV light.
Given that we simplified the model and the solution was a bit too liquid for printing, it was not possible to test in detail. But it seems possible to create the gradient effect if you have the printing process and material optimized.