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Title: LEGO® Bricks as Building Blocks for Centimeter-Scale Biological Environments: The Case of Plants

Journal Article · · PLoS ONE
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2]
  1. Iowa State University, Ames, IA (United States)
  2. Iowa State University, Ames, IA (United States); Ames Laboratory, Ames, IA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

LEGO bricks are commercially available interlocking pieces of plastic that are conventionally used as toys. We describe their use to build engineered environments for cm-scale biological systems, in particular plant roots. Specifically, we take advantage of the unique modularity of these building blocks to create inexpensive, transparent, reconfigurable, and highly scalable environments for plant growth in which structural obstacles and chemical gradients can be precisely engineered to mimic soil.

Research Organization:
Ames Laboratory (AMES), Ames, IA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-07CH11358
OSTI ID:
1627712
Journal Information:
PLoS ONE, Vol. 9, Issue 6; ISSN 1932-6203
Publisher:
Public Library of ScienceCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (5)

HOMEs for plants and microbes – a phenotyping approach with quantitative control of signaling between organisms and their individual environments journal January 2018
Architectured materials in engineering and biology: fabrication, structure, mechanics and performance journal November 2015
Challenges and opportunities for quantifying roots and rhizosphere interactions through imaging and image analysis: Quantifying the rhizosphere using image analysis journal November 2014
Simplicity as a Route to Impact in Materials Research journal February 2017
Plant Growth Environments with Programmable Relative Humidity and Homogeneous Nutrient Availability journal June 2016

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Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
plant growth and development
root growth
gels
soil chemistry
plant roots
root structure
oxygen
biological system engineering