My Favorite Biomaterial 😍

Electronic paper, tissue regeneration, bioplastics and more

Biomaterials are those which interact with biological systems. They are especially used for medical purposes to augment or replace a natural function.

Biocompatibility, bioactivity, and biomechanics are three integral requirements of any biomaterial. Cellulose-based biomaterials satisfy each of these criteria

What?

From the French word cellule for a living cell and glucose which is a sugar, cellulose is the most abundant natural polymer which forms the primary cell wall of green plants, and many forms of algae.

Synthesized at the plasma membrane by rosette terminal complexes (RTCs), which are structures, that contain the cellulose synthase enzymes that synthesize the individual cellulose chains.

While this is a basic structural material of most plants, it is also produced by bacteria. In fact, this type of cellulose can have many unique characteristics such as high purity, strength, moldability, and increased water-holding ability. Bacterial cellulose production also depends on factors like the growth medium, environmental conditions, and the formation of byproducts.

How?

Cellulose is synthesized at the plasma membrane by RTCs, which are structures that contain the cellulose synthase enzymes — encoded by CesA(“cellulose synthase”) gene— that synthesize the individual cellulose chains.

Why?

So why should you care about this material? It is apparently very useful in the natural world, but what further, more innovative applications can we see for our daily lives?

Paper products

Cellulose can be a biomaterial in the sense that it can be used for medical purposes. However, this doesn’t mean it cannot be used to create other products and solve other problems.

Trees contain cellulose, which is used to produce paper but trees are also a habitat of many species and can absorb CO2, so if we keep on wasting this resource…

In any case, trees are useful for many different things, which brings environmental issues. But how do people actually make paper out of wood?

1. Chopping trees: the most used way to obtain cellulose nowadays
2. Chipping: most pulping processes require that the wood be chipped and screened to provide uniform sized chips
3. Pulping: cellulose is mixed with water and other chemical or plant-based additives. Break down the bulk structure of the fiber source into constituent fiber

Wound dressing

Skin regeneration and wound healing can be slow due to the many processes that it comprises.

Bacterial Cellulose (BC) has many characteristics — such as being non‐toxic, non‐carcinogenic, and biocompatible — that make it an ideal for protecting injured tissues through wound dressings, specially for burn wounds, tissue regeneration, and as temporary skin substitutes.

Tissue engineering and regeneration

Bacterial nanocellulose is biocompatible and has been applied to full-thickness skin defect models. Thanks to its versatility, it has also been used to bone, muscle, tendons/ligaments, cartilage, vertebrae disks, urinary tracts, and larynx tissues are applicable too.

An advantage of this long-lasting material is continuous structural support. While another factor to consider is that it is not biodegradable in humans.

Human ear scaffolds carved out of plant-based cellulose

Electronic paper

If you’ve seen those Kindle tablets made for readers who have to take hundreds of books in one place while taking care of their eye health, you already know electronic paper.

Many electronic paper technologies can work without electricity and can be read in direct sunlight without any problems.

Extended-release drugs

The most used type of cellulose in these dosage forms is ethylcellulose, which is completely insoluble in water and allows the medicine to pass through it by diffusion so the patient doesn’t have to take pills all the time but still adhere to their treatment.

Smart Pill that Stays 1 Month Inside Your Stomach

Bioplastics

Cellulose fiber has no plastic properties. Thus, it needs to be first isolated and then modified before synthesizing a bioplastic with it.

Lead researcher of Georgia Institute of Technology Carson Meredith and his colleagues used a clear flexible PLA base and applied alternating layers of chitin and cellulose nanofibers. The result was a thin and durable plastic.

So

The ecological crisis is one of the hardest we are already facing. Turning back to where we came from (nature) is in my opinion, the best way to face this problem. But it wouldn’t be possible to simply use cellulose the way we were doing it before. Thus, with the help of synthetic biology, we will now be able to create better biological materials that are sustainable for our environment.

There are also other challenges we were already very familiar with. In that case, cellulose also turns out to be a wonderful biomaterial that can be bio-printed and then used to even replace organs.

I think that by using technology smartly, we will see a very bright future. Or at least, we’ll be able to solve the world’s biggest problems.

Hey! I’m Sofi, a 16-year-old girl who’s extremely passionate about gene editing, human longevity, and innovation itself 🦄. I’m learning a lot about exponential technologies to soon start a company that impacts the world positively 🚀. My articles are about scientific innovations explained the easy way, to show you the amazing future that awaits us.
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