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living concrete

24.01.2020

Scientists at the University of Colorado have created living concrete that is teeming with photosynthetic bacteria. They can grow and even regenerate - just like a living organism.

The new material is a mixture of gelatin, sand and cyanobacteria. The resulting structure was able to regenerate three times after the researchers tore it apart.

The living concrete, which Colorado scientists have made in collaboration with DARPA, initially has a sickly green color that fades as bacteria die off.

"It really looks like Frankenstein stuff," joked UC Boulder engineer and project leader Will Srubar.

Even when the green tint disappears, the bacteria continue to live for a few more weeks. Under the right conditions, they can be "rejuvenated" and become active again, splicing cracks and other defects within the structure. DARPA is particularly interested in such materials, which are planned to be used to build structures in remote desert regions and possibly even on planets like Mars.

If living concrete is put into industrial production, it will indeed significantly simplify the life of space agencies. "Instead of spending millions of dollars to carry heavy building materials into space, we'll just bring life there - and grow whatever we need," says Srubar.

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Why are prions needed? 11.10.2010

It has long been proven that some human and animal diseases, in which microscopic pores form in the brain, arise due to special proteins - prions. The most famous of these diseases is the sensational "rabies of cows" in its time.

Prions are normally present on the surface of all nerve cells, but the disease begins when some of the prions change their configuration for some unknown reason. These pathogenic molecules can infect normal ones, causing them to also reconfigure to pathogenic ones.

Why does the body need these potentially dangerous proteins? Adriano Aguzzi, a neurologist at the University of Zurich (Switzerland), genetically engineered a breed of mice devoid of prions. It turned out that in such individuals, the "isolation" of the nerves is broken, as a result, the propagation of signals along them slows down.

The insulating sheath of nerve fibers consists of myelin, a lipid-protein complex deposited by special cells. This process, apparently, is controlled by prions.

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