EPFL researchers pioneer 3D bio-based printable ink to produce “bones”

In Switzerland, researchers in the Soft Materials Laboratory in the School of Engineering at EPFL turned to nature for a solution for composite materials that are simultaneously light and strong, porous and rigid. They have pioneered a 3D printable ink that contains Sporosarcina pasteurii: a bacterium which, when exposed to a urea-containing solution, triggers a mineralization process that produces calcium carbonate (CaCO3). The upshot is that the researchers can use their ink – dubbed BactoInk – to 3D-print virtually any shape, which will then gradually mineralize over the course of a few days.