Call 1

Leading PI: Bin Qu (Saarland University) In the LSC, therapeutic bacteria will be encapsulated in synthetic materials to construct implantable living therapeutic devices. Evaluating the immune response to these devices both in vitro and in vivo is critical for selecting engineered strains and designs with realistic potential to become medical products. In this context, the […]

Leading PI: Tobias Kraus (INM) We introduce a hybrid concept that combines inorganic nanostructures with genetically engineered cells to release an active compound upon optical irradiation. Gold nanorods (AuNRs), which are exceptionally efficient and easily tunable photothermal IR converters, are compatibilized with thermally responsive bacteria. These will be tested in mixed suspensions and then encapsulated […]

Leading PI: Aránzazu del Campo (INM) The project aims to design hydrogels and nanofibrillar meshes to encapsulate bacteria for drug-eluting aerosols for the lungs and implants for the bile duct. It will focus on material selection and processing techniques to support the biofactories’ viability and functionality, using approved medical polymers. Techniques like microfluidic encapsulation and […]

Leading PI: Shriskrishnan Sankaran Living therapeutic materials developed by the LSC will target both easily accessible tissues like the eye and harder-to-reach tissues such as the lung or liver. Controlling bacterial activity through an externally applied trigger is desirable for these scenarios. Temperature is an attractive trigger due to the body’s tight regulation of its […]

Leading PI: Andriy Luzhetskyy (University of Saarland) & Christoph Wittmann (University of Saarland) This proposal aims to create actinobacterial cell factories with synthetic pathways for relevant therapeutics and integrated sensing and control circuits for signal transduction, communication and streamlined output. Joint efforts of all partners will couple synthetic and control properties into cells of higher […]

Leading PI: Rolf Müller (HIPS) Escherichia coli, designed to be generally regarded as safe (GRAS) (e.g., ClearColi, E. coli Nissle), will be genetically engineered to produce antibiotics on demand. This project involves developing inducible production systems in collaboration with consortium partners. The focus is on two novel antibiotic classes, Darobactin and Odilorhabdin, which do not […]