Biology is now being used to meet engineering challenges as biologically derived materials offer key properties that manmade materials cannot. Bio-derived materials, sometimes called biomaterials, are created from living or once living organisms. These materials have gained popularity recently as they are biocompatible and can act as matrices that can house biomolecules and cells. This video will introduce several bio-derived materials and introduce common techniques and challenges in the field.
Over the years, the materials we consider biocompatible have changed a lot – from the animal tissue used by ancient Egyptians to stitch wounds, to the wood used in olden-day peg legs, to the carefully-engineered materials we use today. Some of the more prominent ones today are titanium and stainless steel, used everywhere from joint replacements to dental implants. There’s also polyurethane, a type of polymer used in catheters, artificial heart valves, and other flexible devices, and hydrogels, for things like contact lenses.
Each type has different properties that make it useful as a bio-material. We’ve already talked about one use for alloys, like titanium and stainless steel, for example: braces. Titanium and some other alloys can be classified as biologically inert materials, which means they cause little or no reaction with nearby tissues. Your body may recognize them as foreign materials and try to surround them in fibrous tissue, but it doesn’t outright reject them. Biomaterials can be an incredibly powerful tool for improving people’s lives. But as engineers, it’s up to us to wield that power responsibly.