This class was taught by David Kong with guest lecturers: Sean Kearney from Alm Lab at MIT & Prof. Neri Oxman from MIT Media Lab. We discussed about the human gut microbiota, which is one of the most densely populated ecosystems of microorganisms on earth. With an estimated 100 trillion microorganisms, the gut is an extraordinarily complex system of microbe-microbe and microbe-host interactions.

A growing body of research is beginning to elucidate the diverse impacts the gut microbiota plays in human health and development, from nutrition, to disease, and even cognition. Recently, with the success of fecal matter transplants (FMTs) to treat infectious disease, microbes are emerging as a unique therapeutic. Model systems to both prototype and study complex polymicrobial systems are a necessity for producing robust microbial communities that can be engineered at both the genetic level (subcellular) and population level (multicellular).

3D print a culture tube & culture a bacterial strain comparing its growth rate over time

3D print a 14 mL culture tube in at least one material. Culture a bacterial strain of your choice in this tube and compare the growth rate (optical density) over time versus a polystyrene control tube. Ideally use a strain featuring antibiotic resistance and culture in the presence of an antibiotic.

We 3D printed the design in 4 different materials:
  • Vero White
  • Vero Clear
  • Tango Black
  • PLA Blue
    The three first were printed with an Objet Eden260VS from Stratasys which has a large pool of possible materials that we can print. The last one was printed with a MakerBot Replicator 2.

    Planned protocol and colony preparation:

    Pipetting growth media, antibiotic and bacteria into each tube and incubation:

    At regular intervals, we performed optical density measurements using a spectrophotometer.

    The resulting growth curves for the different materials:

    Extra credit: Culture multiple combinations of tube materials and strains, comparing growth rates for each against polystyrene.

    Design a milli- or micro-fluidic 'artificial gut' or other 'organ-on-a-chip' device to be utilized, at a minimum, for cell culture

    Fabricate your device, or at least one component of your device

    Document the following aspects of fabrication and function in your wiki:
  • What features of your organ are you attempting to emulate?
  • How is your device intended to function?
  • Were you able to fabricate your device? Which components? Which parts 'worked' and which ones didn't?
  • What will you aim to improve for your next iteration of design + build?

    Culture the organism from (1) in your milli- or micro-fluidic device.

    Run a negative control in a device with liquid media only. Collect the liquid culture from your device (+/- bacteria) and plate in the presence of an antibiotic. Report colonies for the +/- experiments.

    Share your 'final' device designs on 'Metafluidics'

    Include Bill of Materials, assembly instructions, and any associated hardware. Irrespective of how far you get in (2), please share your latest iteration! You can always update your device later.