Forget bricks, researchers say 'smart soil' injected with GM bacteria could be used to grow the first homes on Mars

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Genetically engineered bacteria injected into Martian soil could one day be used to grow the foundation for buildings on the red planet.

Scientists and architects have teamed up to create a new material known as ‘biocement,’ using engineered cells to strengthen the surrounding soil based on interactions with the environment.

On Earth, this could make for construction techniques that are both energy saving and carbon-negative, and on Mars, it could provide the basis for human settlement.

Scientists and architects have teamed up to create a new material known as ‘biocement,’ using engineered cells to strengthen the surrounding soil based on interactions with the environment

The researchers from Newcastle and Northumbria universities, led by professor of architectural design Martyn Dade-Robertson, have identified dozen of genes in E. coli bacteria that are regulated by pressures of 10atm – 10 times the pressure at sea level.

This has allowed the team to modify the bacteria to create a ‘gene circuit,’ with which the bacteria could be tuned to create biocements.

‘We are trying to create a responsive material which could have broad architectural applications, for example creating foundations for buildings without needing to dig trenches and fill them with concrete,’ Dade-Robertson said.

The breakthrough comes just two years after the researcher and colleagues argued that bioengineered building materials could be used for construction on Mars, in a paper published to the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society.

It would be far too expensive to ship building materials to the red planet, and it is so far thought to be devoid of the makings for cement – calcium carbonate from the fossilized remains of sea creatures.

'A true extra terrestrial planetary vernacular may rely much more on the materials at hand,' the authors explained, 'and, at least in terms of initial colonization, may require materials which are unrefined and fabricated using non traditional techniques.'

While E. coli wouldn’t be the right candidate for a soil environment, the researchers have also developed a new Computer Aided Design application that could help future efforts.

The breakthrough comes just two years after the researcher and colleagues argued that bioengineered building materials could be used for construction on Mars. The images from the study show concepts for domes atop bio-cemented sand

The application plots different gene expression for the soil under various pressures and stresses, revealing where the bacteria are most likely to produce materials.

‘From our work we know that there are a number of genes (over 100) whose regulation is changed as they come under pressure,’ Dade-Robertson told Inverse.

‘These genes are controlled by genetic switches so we have been looking for genetic switches which can be turned on or off.

‘We can then use these genetic switches to turn on other genes which, for example, would synthesize materials – inducing calcium carbonate formation, for example.’

If mastered, the technique could provide a way to build from the ground up.

On Earth, the method could make for construction techniques that are both energy saving and carbon-negative, and on Mars, it could provide the basis for human settlement

While it would require roughly $50,000 per pound to transport construction materials from Earth to Mars, microorganisms would be much easier to ship.

The researchers say this could revolutionize building on Earth, and as the production of calcium carbonate sequesters carbon dioxide, it could make for a cleaner, more efficient system, Inverse reports.

‘The application hints at new way of doing design,’ Dade-Robertson said.

‘Imagine designing structures at the scale of a building by altering the DNA of microscopic bacteria cells.

‘Such technology would push well beyond the current state of the art and challenge a new generation of engineering designers to think at multiple scales from molecular to the built environment and to anticipate civil engineering with living organisms.’