About This Project

NanoBioFabLab is a research, development and innovation concept focused on 3D biofabrication using nanomaterials as essential building blocks for biomimetics. In the present project, we want to know if silver nanoparticles will confer antimicrobial activity on biological scaffolds. If so, this may prevent the contamination of biological scaffolds by microorganisms. The team of this visionary project accepted this challenge!

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

NanoBioFabLab concept was born from an exhibition at Campus Party Brasilia 2017 as an innovative academic initiative. This initiative goes beyond what is currently developed in the area of 3D bioprinting, where knowledge, scientific and technological production are still very scarce and restricted to few laboratories in the world due to the high investment and also incipient scientific dissemination.

In addition, it's known that some nanomaterials such as silver nanoparticles exhibit in vitro and in vivo antimicrobial activity; avoiding, controlling or eliminating the growth of a wide range of microorganisms. It’s currently difficult to achieve some favorable properties on a scaffold (e.g. assepsia), which are built primarily for applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

What is the significance of this project?

With biological antimicrobial scaffolds it will be possible to grow plant and animal cells without the undesired contamination by microorganisms such as bacteria. Then, we will have more sterile scaffolds and apply in the research and biomedical areas - such as implants. And all this approach intents in avoiding the contamination of the cell culture in 3D bioprinted scaffolds.

This project will help the NanoBioFabLab initiative get off the ground. With this initial investment, you will be collaborating for the development in the frontier field of 3D bioprinting. We want to overcome one by one the major challenges of this area by working simply, with low cost materials, thinking about sustainability and investing on the training and formation of human resources.

What are the goals of the project?

This first project of the NanoBioFabLab initiative aims to start the production of scaffolds using a 3D bioprinter. For the production of these scaffolds, we will use gelatin and chitosan as biopolymers and silver nanoparticles produced by green synthesis routes. The antimicrobial activity of the scaffolds will be evaluated according to the potential inhibition of microorganisms’ growth during periods of 24 h, 48 h and 72 h.

The NanoBioFabLab initiative is much more than one research project, it's a concept. The first project of the NanoBioFabLab will help us establish a way to produce antimicrobial scaffolds structured by gelatin, chitosan and silver nanoparticles. In addition, it will allow us to develop future scaffolds with other biopolymers and nanomaterials.