The Butterfly Effect of Biodesign

What's been brewing this week?

June 10, 2025

Dear reader,

It’s often the grand, sweeping changes that capture our attention.

Yet, there’s a quieter power at play in the world, where a single, overlooked whisper can echo into a roar.

This week, we look at how the smallest genetic tweak, made not to a primary feature, but to a subtle regulator in the background, can unexpectedly reshape an entire material, providing it with a strength and character previously thought impossible.

It’s a powerful reminder that the most profound outcomes often have the quietest beginnings.

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💡 Research Signal: Proteome-First Biodesign in Action

A new study in Advanced Science shows how a 12-base pair deletion reshaped bacterial cellulose, without touching the cellulose genes.

Researchers edited clpA (a protein-folding regulator) in Komagataeibacter sucrofermentans. The result:

  • +55 % more cellulose

  • +51 % stronger, +57 % stiffer material

  • 4× expression of a key cellulose synthase (BcsAB₂)

  • Formation of dual-scale fibre ribbons: thin mesh + thick structural bundles

All from a tiny mutation outside the expected pathway.

🎯 Design Takeaways

  • Design by proteome, not just pathway: subtle edits can cascade into major structural outcomes

  • Dual-scale architecture enables tunable porosity and performance

  • Mutation-to-material is a real design pipeline for living systems

  • Focus on expression, not overexpression — less burden, more architecture

This is Proteome-First Biodesign: editing the system, not the product.

📄 Read the full paper:
"Genetic Impacts on the Structure and Mechanics of Cellulose Made by Bacteria" – Advanced Science, 2025
👉 https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/advs.202505075 

🤿 Designing Bacterial Cellulose from the Inside Out

We usually adjust bacterial cellulose from the outside, fermentation time, layering, drying. But what if you could design it from the inside?

This week’s upcoming Foundational Tier article takes you into the protein layer of BC production, showing how traits like elasticity, water retention, stiffness, and colour etc, are controlled not by media, but by the bacterial proteins themselves.

Even better: we’ll explore how AI tools like AlphaFold and Cradle let you start designing at the molecular level, with no lab required.

Whether you’re a student, a designer, or just curious about living materials, this will be a practical, creative entry point into protein-level biodesign. Watch this space: new archiving article drops later this week.

🧬 AlphaFold Futures: Registration Still Open!

Ready to design at the molecular level? Our AlphaFold Futures Workshop is just around the corner, and registration is still open.

This 3-day online workshop (July 2–4, 2025) will teach you to explore AlphaFold 3, a leading AI tool for protein prediction, even if you have no coding or bio background. Learn to design with molecular precision for living materials like mycelium, algae, and cellulose.

Why join? You'll get live sessions, AlphaFold demos, a PDF toolkit, a completion certificate, and a bonus Q&A with biodesign leaders.

Seats are going fast, and registration closes June 29, 2025.

Pricing: €129 Standard, €65 Student, €299 Institutional/Team (Foundational Tier members get 20% off).

🌍 Biodesign Without Borders: Opening Doors in Challenging Times

We're heartened by the incredible response to our "Biodesign Without Borders" initiative, launched in the wake of the recent U.S. travel ban.

Your engagement proves that the spirit of biodesign truly knows no geographical limits. It's about shared purpose, collective innovation, and building a better future, no matter where we are.

Spotlight: Andische Azad (Biodesigner in Limbo)

Today, we're putting a spotlight on Andische Azad, a talented biodesign community member currently facing travel restrictions to the U.S.

Andische's situation highlights the very challenges our initiative aims to address, and their openness to collaboration embodies the "without borders" ethos.

Andische is currently based in Berlin, Germany, and is actively seeking opportunities despite current travel limitations. Andische’s field of research is Biodesign/design research, and is open to collaboration or studying outside of the U.S. 

How You Can Help:

If your university, lab, or company can offer a collaborative project, a mentorship opportunity, or remote study possibilities in biodesign or design research, please consider reaching out to Andische directly at [email protected]. This is a chance to not only support a promising biodesigner but also to enrich your own work with a diverse perspective.

Our Growing Resources for Biodesign without Borders

The stories we're hearing, like Andische's, underscore the critical need for the resources we're building. If you haven't already, be sure to fill in, or explore:

In a world where borders can seem impassable, it’s easy to feel isolated. But the spirit of curiosity and creation is not so easily contained.

When one member of our community faces a closed door, we are seeing countless others reach out to open a window. It shows that our real work is built on a foundation of shared purpose, something that transcends geography and circumstance.

Let’s continue to build those connections, ensuring that every voice can contribute to the future we’re all working toward.

Best wishes,

Raphael

Biodesign Academy

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