Scientists look to living cells to develop novel self-actuating materials

Scientists from Yale University and the University of Chicago will collaborate on a new $6.25 million project intended to create novel, biologically inspired synthetic materials that can generate and respond to forces in the same way cells do. Such materials could autonomously stiffen, change shape, or self-heal in response to mechanical forces. The five-year project will look closely at how biological cells sense mechanical cues from their environment and respond to those cues chemically. The team will use its findings to create, for example, a synthetic material that uses molecules from cells to move, compress, or stretch itself in response to force. "For over 50 years, cellular and molecular biologists have investigated what molecules are important to cells generating and measuring force," said Eric Dufresne, associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Yale and co-principal investigator. "We're taking the next step by investigating how these molecules work together, and then we're building artificial materials that could be used, say, for wound healing or for soft actuators in robots." According to the researchers, such materials would have unique ways of responding to force, with one potential material able to change shape and self-assemble in response to mechanical forces. "Consider, for example, a rubber band, which will break if you stretch it too far," said Margaret Gardel, associate professor in the University of Chicago's department of physics and principal investigator of the research.