Research

The Alga2Fish project will contribute towards developing the first cultivated whole-fish tissue production, avoiding animal rearing and capture for that purpose. The main innovation we seek is to develop new conductive edible scaffolds using 3D bioprinting and electrospinning from algae and plant materials. These scaffolds will support fish cell growth, provide adequate mechanical and structural properties, and contribute to the final tissue balance of nutritional and organoleptic features.

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3D Bioprinting

3D bioprinting enables the printing of cells and support materials together. The precise layering of cells allows accurate control of cell distribution and resolution. It is a fast and efficient process.

Electrospinning

Electrospinning allows to manipulate and produce fibers with a high surface area to volume ratio, and tunable porosity that resemble ECM. Besides, it is possible to manipulate nanofiber composition to get desired properties and function.

Fish cell culture

Fish cells can be grown and differentiated applying the technology and methods currently used in tissue engineering. In order to ensure the scalability of this process, bioreactors allow the in vitro production of high cell quantities

Publications

In this section you can find the publications from the team related to this project. Stay tuned!

1. Marques DM, Silva JC, Serro AP, Cabral JMS, Sanjuan-Alberte P & Ferreira FC (2022). 3D Bioprinting of Novel κ-Carrageenan Bioinks: An Algae-Derived Polysaccharide. Bioengineering, 9(3), 109.