Researchers at UT Austin are using 3-D printing to build microscopic cages that contain bacteria and to study how this bacteria interacts and develops infections in humans.
The scientists, including Department of Chemistry professor Jason Shear, utilize 3-D printing technology to construct protein homes for bacteria in gelatin. This should allow experiments that better approximate the conditions that bacteria encounter in actual biological environments, such as those in the human body.
The work was published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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