Team:ETH Zurich/lab/bead
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Revision as of 19:33, 15 October 2014
Beads
Overview
Alginates are present as structural components in both the cell walls of brown algae and the capsules of soil bacteria. However, commercially available alginate is mainly extracted from algae. The polysaccharides find a broad application in various fields: in textile printing, in food industry or in research. The chemical features of alginates allow immobilization of macromolecules and cells, thus, the compound is commonly used in biotechnology, biomedicine and pharmacy [24]. In our project we encapsulated bacteria in alginate beads so as to ensure local separation of the different units (here strains) and directional communication between them. These prerequisites are required for controlled pattern formation.
Properties
Sodium alginate is a viscous liquid, however, upon addition of calcium an ion exchange occurs. Alginate is gelling in presence of multivalent ions, such as Ca, that cross-link the polysaccharides.
Production
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