Teaching tomorrow’s innovators with living materials

High school students are working side-by-side with graduate students and faculty to make new types of materials from microorganisms. Through the Bugs as Materials summer internship program at Carnegie Mellon University, they are immersed in hands-on research.

Daniel Levin, who interned in the Niepa μBiointerface Lab for two years while a student at Pittsburgh Allderdice High School, was exposed to parts of science and engineering that he wouldn't have seen otherwise.

"Being in that type of environment in high school was captivating," he says. "I was encouraged to think independently and to try new techniques to optimize our project. I was surrounded by people who were excited to talk with me about science. The culture of the lab influenced my excitement for research."

The Bugs as Materials program is designed to create pathways to higher education and innovation. Mentored by graduate students and faculty in the College of Engineering, participants explore the role of microbes in creating sustainable materials.

Trained by Tagbo Niepa, an associate professor of chemical engineering and biomedical engineering, and Camila Cué Royo, a Ph.D. student in chemical engineering, Levin helped to develop a way to use electrochemical therapy to treat soft-tissue infections.

Niepa has extensively studied the mechanisms through which electrochemical therapy damages microbial cells and makes them more sensitive to drugs. Although the technology has the potential to control drug-resistant infections, its use has been limited by inflexible electrodes. Niepa, Cué Royo, and Levin designed a flexible bandage that can deliver a low dose of electrical current in more places on the body.

Their design uses bacterial cellulose as its primary material. It is made naturally by bacteria and is similar to the cellulose that is the basic structural material of many plants. To make it conductive, they added carbon nanotubes. Experiments confirmed the stable retention of carbon nanotubes in the bacterial cellulose matrix and validated the ability to deliver electrical current through the bandage.

In Biofilm, Niepa, Cué Royo, Levin, and collaborators show that their electrochemical bandage can prevent biofilm from forming in a Staphylococcus aureus infection.

The leading cause of skin infections in the US, S. aureus is resistant to many antibiotics. At the infection site, the microorganism aggregates into a dense biofilm that blocks the healing process. Antibiotics and immune cells are unable to get through the biofilm layer.

The study is proof of concept for using electrochemical bandages to address the limitations of available antibiotic treatments and treat infections on skin and soft tissues. "A paper like this advances our research vision while also training students who might see an opportunity for a future in research," says Niepa.

Levin presented his research at various venues and received multiple prizes totaling $50,000, including being named one of the Top 300 Scholars from the Regeneron Science Talent Search, the Society for Science and the Public, and the 2023 Davidson Fellowship Award. He is now an undergraduate studying chemistry at Duke University.

Quincy Sirko was similarly inspired by Bugs as Materials. The program fueled her passion for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and for mentoring younger students. She is now attending Carnegie Mellon.

"Bugs as Materials shows students how to think like scientists and how they can contribute to meaningful projects," says Ann Badia, program coordinator and a Ph.D. student in biomedical engineering. "Personally, I chose engineering after participating in a STEM program in high school. I know how impactful these programs can be. Bugs as Materials has been instrumental in helping high school students transition to top undergraduate programs."

"Training Daniel and other high school students in the lab has pushed me to take a step back and think about the 'why' behind each experiment," says Cué Royo. "I've also learned to be intentional and balanced in my communication, letting students be curious while ensuring they learn to design experiments properly, follow protocols, think critically about their results, and value accuracy and reproducibility."

Through Bugs as Materials, Niepa takes a multi-level approach to cultivating the younger generation of scientists. "We're getting high school students excited about science and discovery, and we're training graduate students to be great mentors," he says. "It's about what they're going to do next."

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health under award number 7DP2GM149553-02 and by the US National Science Foundation under CAREER Award CMMI-2422153, grant number DMR-240964, and the High School Student Research Assistantships Supplement (DMR-2436943). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the National Institutes of Health.