Living plastics from plasticizer-assisted thermal molding of silk protein.

The pursuit of materials, particularly plastics, with a minimal ecological footprint throughout their circular lifecycle, is crucial for advancing sustainable materials development. Living materials composed of embedded yet active organisms can leverage endogenous biotic resources to achieve functional materials that align with sustainability goals. However, current living material systems face challenges such as weak mechanical properties, limited environmental adaptability, and restricted cellular functionality.

Current advances in bio-fabricated quantum dots emphasising the study of mechanisms to diversify their catalytic and biomedical applications.

Quantum dots (QDs), owing to their single atom-like electronic structure due to quantum confinement, are often referred to as artificial atoms. This unique physical property results in the diverse functions exhibited by QDs. A wide array of applications have been achieved by the surface functionalization of QDs, resulting in exceptional optical, antimicrobial, catalytic, cytotoxic and enzyme inhibition properties.

A study of microbially fabricated bio-conjugated quantum dots for pico-molar sensing of HO and glucose.

Quantum dots (QDs) as bio-detectors have been intensively explored owing to their size dependent optical properties and are still envisioned to be used in a plethora of biomedical and healthcare areas. However, the medical application of the biosensors demands the ultrasensitive detection of the analytes, which is usually limited for the conventional methods of colorimetric and fluorescence detection. The Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) process, exploited by QDs, translates the close association between the analyte and the detector into optical properties and thus promises the effective detection of biomolecules.