LEGO® bricks as building blocks for centimeter-scale biological environments: the case of plants.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 24963716.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0100867 and PMC identifier 4071033.
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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.
Medical subject headings
- Bioengineering
- Environment
- Plant Development
- Play and Playthings