‘Matter Makes Matter’ by Living Printing Facilities (C2.4)

Nature has an impressive capability to generate durable 3D structures, for example the skeletons of diatoms or the exoskeleton of insects. The essence of these processes is the use of material like minerals or chitin, that can form long-living structures. In project C2.4, we will trigger and direct such 3D structuring processes within cells and multicellular organoid systems, turning them into living 3D printers. To accomplish this ambitious goal, we will 3D print geometrically defined seed structures next to or within organoids and use machine learning approaches to realize the targeted structures. The long-term perspective of C2.4 is the establishment of living 3D printing facilities that produce 3D materials in a controllable manner.