Smart diagnostics

Synthetic materials inspired by biological cells could provide the next generation of smart diagnostics.

Dr Castell and his team have developed new materials using water and oil which could play a vital role in healthcare and diagnostics in the future. Using the science of microfluidics, the technique manipulates tiny volumes of fluid to create a series of interconnected water droplets inside a small droplet of oil, itself encased within a gel-like, semi-permeable shell.

Detailed in the Journal Angewandte Chemie (Open Access) these new materials are inspired by biological cells and their development makes it possible to take previously fragile molecular membranes outside of the laboratory and interface them with the wider world.

Moving membrane based droplet networks out of the lab

Membrane based droplet networks, able to incorporate protein machinery and display emergent functional properties, have been predicted to find vital roles in future healthcare and diagnostic applications. However, they have so far typically not fared well outside well controlled laboratory conditions.

By using microfluidics to surround these systems with a thin hydrogel shell, the team have been able to significantly stabilise the membrane networks, providing mechanical rigidity whilst maintaining environmental interaction, facilitating their use in environments outside of the laboratory.

The development of these materials underpins a €4.4M EU research project - Artificial Cells with Distributed Cores to Decipher Protein Function - that seeks inspiration from biology to recapitulate some aspects of biological functionality arising from chemical compartmentalisation.

It is envisaged that such artificial cell technology will ultimately be used as programmable and reconfigurable matter for a range of applications from smart diagnostics to drug delivery, to chemical synthesis and energy harvesting.