3D CoraPrint and underwater superglue for coral restoration

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Project Description

Due to environmental factors such as increasing heat and pollution, coral reefs are experiencing steady and substantial degradation over the years. 3D CoraPrint can produce porous coral scaffolds for coral nurseries with a sustainable material composed of calcium carbonate photopolymer material (CCP). Biocompatible ultrashort peptide hydrogels are used as scaffolding materials for 3D bioprinting. Our work shows that hydrogels can provide a favorable environment for cellular growth. We aim to combine our coral scaffolds with our field-approved environmentally friendly peptide-based superglue in order to glue coral microfragments to the 3D printed coral structures. Afterwards, the obtained structures will be printed/sprayed with peptide hydrogels to provide growth support. The growth and general health status of the treated glued fragments will be monitored over time both in nursery and in field.
Program - BioEngineering
Division - Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering
Field of Study - tissue engineering, materials science, environmental science

About the
Researcher

Charlotte A. E. Hauser

Professor, Bioengineering <br/>Chair, Bioengineering Program

Charlotte A. E. Hauser
Professor Hauser’s research interests align at the interfaces between chemistry, biomedicine, bioengineering and nanotechnology. Focus is on the development of platform technologies, using smart nanomaterials for regenerative, biomedical and environmental applications.

Her interest refers to the rational molecular design, synthesis and mechanistic understanding of novel supramolecular structures. Investigated systems include peptide-based nanostructures with an innate propensity to self-assemble to biomimetic architectures applicable for biomedical applications such as cell substrates, sensors and 3D tissue scaffolds for regenerative medicine. Bottom-up nanofabrication is a powerful tool for the development of functional tissue equivalents, organotypic tissues and devices. Moreover, these biomimetic supramolecular constructs will be used for the design and fabrication of novel organ-on-a-chip devices and disease models.

Furthermore, Professor Hauser is interested in 3D bioprinting, using supramolecular organotypic constructs to fabricate high-throughput platforms for drug screening, pathogen detection and other diagnostic purposes. Synthetic biology approaches are explored for the generation of functional biomaterial.

Desired Project Deliverables

In our vision, the proposed approach of combining in-house printing with CCP biocompatible and sustainable material and the use of an in-house designed biocompatible underwater superglue will allow the far-reaching goal of generating fast sustainable growing corals for coral reef restoration. Moreover the addition of hydrogel as a coral growth promoter will contribute to provide a better outcome. Key Milestones and Deliverables 1. Printing of porous CCP scaffold 2. Gluing of microfragments with superglue to the coral scaffolds 3. Printing/spraying of hydrogels as growth enhancers 4. Deployment in field and in nursery 5. Monitoring of coral growth/health

RECOMMENDED STUDENT ACADEMIC & RESEARCH BACKGROUND

Bioengineering
Bioengineering
Coral biology
Coral biology
Environmental science
Environmental science
Materials science
Materials science