Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28815998›Full record

ArticleMicrobial biotechnology2017

Architects of nature: growing buildings with bacterial biofilms.

Martyn Dade-Robertson, Alona Keren-Paz, Meng Zhang, Ilana Kolodkin-Gal

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Microbial biotechnology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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  4. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Martyn Dade-RobertsonFaculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Alona Keren-PazDepartment of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
Meng ZhangDepartment of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Ilana Kolodkin-GalDepartment of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.ORCID 0000-0002-8464-5660

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In his text 'On Architecture', Vitruvius suggested that architecture is an imitation of nature. Here we discuss what happens when we begin using nature in architecture. We describe recent developments in the study of biofilm structure, and propose combining modern architecture and synthetic microbiology to develop sustainable construction approaches. Recently, Kolodkin-Gal laboratory and others revealed a role for precipitation of calcium carbonate in the maturation and assembly of bacterial communities with complex structures. Importantly, they demonstrated that different secreted organic materials shape the calcium carbonate crystals formed by the bacterial cells. This provides a proof-of-concept for a potential use of bacteria in designing rigid construction materials and altering crystal morphology and function. In this study, we discuss how these recent discoveries may change the current strategies of architecture and construction. We believe that biofilm communities enhanced by synthetic circuits may be used to construct buildings and to sequester carbon dioxide in the process.

Indexed as

Bacterial Physiological PhenomenaBiofilmsBacteriaCalcium CarbonateConstruction MaterialsCalcium Carbonate

Identifiers

PMID28815998
PMCPMC5609236

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.