Research projects

In this project, we propose that hydrothermal vents acted as the womb and cradle of primitive life. We suggest that ions released by these vents self-assembled with biopolymers produced by cyanobacteria, forming structures known as sponge/stromatolite mimetic tubules (SMT). These SMTs could have served as templates for the colonization and evolution of unicellular organisms into more complex forms, such as marine sponges. To explore this hypothesis, model SMTs will be fabricated via chemobrionic chemistry, generating silicate-phosphate tubules intercalated with biopolymers. The surface of the SMTs will be functionalized using advanced techniques such as click chemistry and bioconjugation (including biotin-avidin chemistry) to optimize cell adhesion. This hypothesis will be tested by culturing the choanoflagellate cell line Salpingoeca rosetta on SMTs, and the resulting assemblies will be analyzed using cutting-edge techniques such as laser confocal microscopy and live imaging. Additionally, the potential of SMTs in tissue engineering will be evaluated as scaffolds for 3D cultures of human fibroblasts. Ultimately, the synthesized SMTs could not only be applied in biomedicine but also represent an innovative educational tool to foster undergraduate student interest in frontier research. The proposed research has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of three key areas of science: the origin of life, bioengineering, and biomolecular materials. By recreating environments that may have existed at the dawn of life on Earth, this work may offer a unique window into the evolutionary mechanisms that transformed unicellular organisms into complex multicellular structures. Furthermore, the developed scaffolding technology not only contributes to the design of advanced biomimetic systems but also offers practical solutions to challenges in tissue engineering and the development of personalized implants. Finally, the innovative tools and materials derived from this research have the potential to significantly influence the design of functional materials, from medical devices to sustainable technologies in various interdisciplinary fields.