Painting with light-powered bacteria

Jochen Arlt; Vincent A. Martinez; Angela Dawson; Teuta Pilizota; Wilson C. K. Poon

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03161-8

Painting with light-powered bacteria

Jochen Arlt, Vincent A. Martinez, Angela Dawson, Teuta Pilizota, Wilson C. K. Poon

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Self-assembly is a promising route for micro- and nano-fabrication with potential to revolutionise many areas of technology, including personalised medicine. Here we demonstrate that external control of the swimming speed of microswimmers can be used to self assemble reconfigurable designer structures in situ. We implement such ‘smart templated active self assembly’ in a fluid environment by using spatially patterned light fields to control photon-powered strains of motile Escherichia coli bacteria. The physics and biology governing the sharpness and formation speed of patterns is investigated using a bespoke strain designed to respond quickly to changes in light intensity. Our protocol provides a distinct paradigm for self-assembly of structures on the 10 μm to mm scale.

Original language	English
Article number	768
Number of pages	7
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03161-8
Publication status	Published - 22 Feb 2018

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10.1038/s41467-018-03161-8Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

54 - Painting with bacteriaFinal published version, 2.17 MBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

PHYSAPS: The Physics of Active Particle Suspensions
Poon, W. (Principal Investigator)
EU government bodies
1/02/14 → 31/01/20
Project: Research
Design Principles for New Soft Materials
Cates, M. (Principal Investigator), Allen, R. (Co-investigator), Clegg, P. (Co-investigator), Evans, M. (Co-investigator), MacPhee, C. (Co-investigator), Marenduzzo, D. (Co-investigator) & Poon, W. (Co-investigator)
EPSRC
7/12/11 → 6/06/17
Project: Research

Painting with bacteria: Smart templated self assembly using motile bacteria (Raw data)
Arlt, J. (Creator), Martinez, V. (Creator), Dawson, A. (Creator), Pilizota, T. (Creator) & Poon, W. (Creator), Edinburgh DataVault, 2018
DOI: 10.7488/138c6ecb-07b2-426f-81cc-69c197be6c2e
Dataset
Painting with bacteria: Smart templated self assembly using motile bacteria
Arlt, J. (Creator), Martinez, V. (Creator), Dawson, A. (Creator), Pilizota, T. (Creator) & Poon, W. (Creator), Edinburgh DataShare, 20 Feb 2018
DOI: 10.7488/ds/2263
Dataset

Jochen Arlt
- j.arlted.acuk
- School of Physics and Astronomy - Senior Lecturer
Person: Academic: Research Active (Research Assistant)
Teuta Pilizota
- School of Biological Sciences - Personal Chair of Biophysics
- Centre for Engineering Biology
Person: Academic: Research Active
Wilson Poon
- w.pooned.acuk
- School of Physics and Astronomy - Chair in Natural Philosophy
Person: Academic: Research Active

Cite this

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abstract = "Self-assembly is a promising route for micro- and nano-fabrication with potential to revolutionise many areas of technology, including personalised medicine. Here we demonstrate that external control of the swimming speed of microswimmers can be used to self assemble reconfigurable designer structures in situ. We implement such {\textquoteleft}smart templated active self assembly{\textquoteright} in a fluid environment by using spatially patterned light fields to control photon-powered strains of motile Escherichia coli bacteria. The physics and biology governing the sharpness and formation speed of patterns is investigated using a bespoke strain designed to respond quickly to changes in light intensity. Our protocol provides a distinct paradigm for self-assembly of structures on the 10 μm to mm scale.",

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Painting with light-powered bacteria

Abstract

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Projects

PHYSAPS: The Physics of Active Particle Suspensions

Design Principles for New Soft Materials

Datasets

Painting with bacteria: Smart templated self assembly using motile bacteria (Raw data)

Painting with bacteria: Smart templated self assembly using motile bacteria

Profiles

Jochen Arlt

Teuta Pilizota

Wilson Poon

Cite this