Harnessing the strength of molecular biology, metabolic engineering, and system biology into a powerful pipeline for modern biotechnology, synthetic biology provides promising and novel ways of creating materials normally not easily achievable through traditional chemical synthesis or additive manufacturing. Air Force Research Laboratory is applying synthetic biology to address materials developments in three specific areas for the Department of Defense: 1) specialty materials, 2) hierarchical materials, and 3) multifunctional/living materials. Synthetic biology further provides the capability of producing hierarchical materials. Malarial parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, catalyzes hemozoin formation with the help of HisRPII protein. We engineered and recombinantly expressed Nvjp1, the jaw protein from marine sandworm Neres virens, was able to nucleate hemozoin with similar activity as the native parasite hemozoin protein. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy confirm the identity of the hemozoin produced from Nvjp1-containing reactions. Furthermore, biothermites of nano-aluminum assembled with hemozoin from Nvjp1 reactions has substantially higher energetic output when compared to analogous biothermite from the synthetic standard or HisRPII-nucleated hemozoin.In addition, multifunctional materials can be produced via synthetic biology. Melanin, a highly-coordinated polymeric nanoparticle found in natural pigments, has diverse properties ranging from electromagnetic wave protection to scavenging of reactive species and metal ions. We engineered and recombinantly expressed Bacillus megaterium tyrosinase in Escherichia coli to produce natural melanin. Two forms of tyrosinase fusions were designed to be either secreted through the curli export system or anchored on the cell surfaces. Using these systems, small melanin nanoparticles and E. coli-templated melanin ghosts were produced to provide as functionalization surfaces for multifunctional material synthesis. Future work will investigate tuning the optical and electrical properties of the melanin assemblies through control of size and shape of the superstructure. This synthetic biology research has provided additional technological push to extend beyond traditional material synthesis methods. Further development of these technologies will expand the current capability for the advancement of materials research in the military environment

Material synthesis through synthetic biology

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

[Author Benefits](https://scimeetings.acs.org/?utm_source=pubs_content_marketing&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=0320_MCF_NPI_Launch_Spring_Homepage&ref=pubs_content_marketing)

[How to use SciMeetings](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMeetings-ACSSpring2020-HowToGuide_M3020-Final.pdf)

[Frequently Asked Questions](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMtng_ACSNMSp2020_FAQ_M3120_Final.pdf)

ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.