Polymer Chemistry at the Living-Material Interface

Abstract

Engineered living materials (ELMs) integrate living functionalities into synthetic materials. Although most ELM studies emphasize cellular functionality, the polymer matrix represents an equally powerful design space: not merely a passive scaffold but a primary tool for programming living material behavior. Synthetic polymers can be designed to tune bulk mechanical properties, mediate dynamic responses, enforce biocontainment, and bridge biological and synthetic domains through engineered polymer-cell interfaces. This Perspective establishes key design principles that emerge when polymer chemistry and living cells are treated as an integrated system, emphasizing how molecular control over the living-material interface governs the mechanical, functional, and dynamic properties of next-generation biohybrid and biocomposite materials.