Imagine wandering through a dense, ancient forest, where everything around you has been evolving for millions of years. Each tree, each leaf, and every organism in this forest has adapted and changed, continuously improving its ability to thrive in its environment. This forest displays the power of evolving adaptation—a relentless force that crafts complexity and efficiency from simplicity.

In tissue regeneration and bioelectronics, biointerfaces are often static and unchanging, akin to a painting frozen in time. But what if these biointerfaces could mimic the living components of the forest—transformable and responsive to their surroundings? This question gives my initial idea: creating biointerfaces that aren’t merely static entities but evolve dynamically, adapting to the ever-changing needs of their biological environment.

Figure 1| Granule-releasing hydrogel based evolving biointerfaces. 

Driven by a blend of enthusiasm and expectation, we began our initial work on developing new biointerfaces. However, we quickly encountered major challenges, particularly in the pursuit of optimal biocompatibility for in-vivo systems. In the realm of bioelectronics and regenerative medicine, we realized that the biocompatibility isn’t merely a feature; it's the cornerstone of functionality. Our initial designs, while adept at transitioning from monolithic to focal structures, faced significant hurdles in interacting with impaired biological systems.

As we were thinking the way out, an unexpected global pandemic struck, preventing me from accessing the lab. For the research heavily reliant on lab experiments, the lab closure hit us hard. I remember the overwhelming feelings of anxiety and restlessness as I packed up my lab notes, uncertain of when I would return. The quiet of the lab, once a space full of activity and ideas, was now a silent reminder of the challenging times we were in.

Fortunately, this period of negativity was short-lived. My PI, Prof. Bozhi Tian, swiftly come up a strategy to adapt to our new circumstances. We transitioned to a virtual environment with regular communication allowed ideas and support to flow freely. In these online meetings, I had the opportunity to have in-depth discussions with Dr. Jiping Yue, a senior scientist in biomedical research, and Dr. Yiliang Lin, an expert  in materials science. These interactions, although through a screen, were rich in knowledge and insights. It was during one of these sessions that a novel idea emerged. We began exploring the use of biocompatible polymers derived from natural resources to create our dynamic biointerfaces. This path, while divergent from our initial direction, but it held promise. Working remotely, we further working on literature reviews, sought collaboration for computational modeling, and applied for grants to further refine and validate this concept. Intriguingly, the pandemic, while initially a barrier, morphed into a catalyst for innovation as it provided me with more time to think deeply about the issues, away from the usual lab work.

Figure 2| The concept of monolithic-to-focal evloving biointerfaces.

Post-pandemic, in close collaboration with experts across various disciplines, I started with an interesting journey, coming through a series of biomedical assessments and iterations. Each test imparted valuable lessons, guiding me towards materials configurations that performed better in the biological environments. Our goal was not just to create a passive interface but to forge an active contributor to the biological systems it engaged with.

Curious about the full picture of our findings? You can read our complete paper, “Monolithic-to-focal evolving biointerfaces in tissue regeneration and bioelectronics,” published in Nature Chemical Engineering: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44286-023-00008-y.