title: LEGO® bricks as building blocks for centimeter-scale biological environments: the case of plants.
abstract: 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.
authors: Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.
authors: Kara R
authors: KR
authors: Lind
authors: Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America; Ames Laboratory, US Department of Energy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.
authors: Tom
authors: T
authors: Sizmur
authors: Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America; Ames Laboratory, US Department of Energy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.
authors: Saida
authors: S
authors: Benomar
authors: Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America; Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.
authors: Anthony
authors: A
authors: Miller
authors: Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America; Ames Laboratory, US Department of Energy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America; Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.
authors: Ludovico
authors: L
authors: Cademartiri
mesh_terms: D057005:Bioengineering / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004777:Environment; D010641:Phenotype; D063245:Plant Development; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000254:growth & development; D010969:Plastics; D010988:Play and Playthings
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics