Scientists make artificial cell membranes with inkjet printers

The latest issue of the "Journal of the National Academy of Sciences" published in the United States reported that scientists in Austria and the United States had succeeded in creating an artificial cell membrane and used it to imitate the material exchange of cells.

Each cell of the human body is surrounded by a layer of lipid-contained film that allows the exchange of molecules, allowing the exchange of material between the interior and exterior of the cell.

Eva Schmid, an Austrian scientist involved in the study, said that biologists, physicists, and engineers have used the inkjet printer to create such artificial cell membranes through interdisciplinary cooperation. In the beginning, lipids were flat, like an unfolded curtain. However, as the protein is directed toward the film through a conventional nozzle of an ink jet printer, the flattened lipids are then bent and stretched out. Finally, the protein is encapsulated and formed into a spherical shape, forming an artificial cell membrane.

The scientists then used experiments to confirm that this artificial cell membrane has the same substance exchange function as the natural cell membrane.

Artificial cell research is in principle in the field of synthetic biology and is still at a very basic stage. However, it has a good application prospect in the future medical field. Through this technology, scientists will be able to make the active ingredients of drugs into certain cells, so as to achieve more effective treatment of certain diseases.