In a groundbreaking collaboration spearheaded by leading research institutions in Catalonia, a transformative approach has been unveiled that harnesses the intrinsic behavior of living tissues to engineer programmable, shape-shifting materials. This pioneering study, conducted by scientists from the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), the Polytechnic University of Catalonia – BarcelonaTech (UPC), the International Centre for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE), and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Barcelona, elucidates how cellular orientation can be chemically guided to direct tissue forces, enabling the design of living surfaces with predetermined three-dimensional geometries.
At the heart of this innovation lies the concept of cellular nematic order—a phenomenon where elongated cells within biological tissues spontaneously align along a common axis, much like the organized fibers of a textile fabric. This alignment leads to the formation of multicellular domains with coherent directional properties. However, these ordered states are interspersed with topological defects, singular points analogous to whorls on a fingerprint, which act as focal centers for cellular forces that govern tissue morphogenesis, migration, and deformation.
The research team ingeniously employed chemical micropatterning techniques to fabricate substrates with precisely defined adhesion cues. By using a protein adhesive pattern interspersed among cell-repellent polymers, they patterned flat surfaces with lines that guided cellular alignment along predetermined trajectories. This methodology enabled the deterministic placement of topological defects within the tissue, thereby dictating where mechanical stresses would concentrate during growth and remodeling.
A pivotal experiment involved detaching the engineered tissue from its substrate, thereby releasing the mechanical constraint that otherwise anchored the internal cellular forces. Upon detachment, the stored elastic energy within the tissue was liberated, driving rapid deformation of the tissue into three-dimensional structures defined by the spatial distribution of the nematic patterns and topological defects. This behavior is analogous to releasing an elastic sheet fixed at its edges, which then relaxes into a new configuration that minimizes the internal stress.
To complement their experimental findings, theoretical models and computational simulations were developed under the leadership of Professor Marino Arroyo at CIMNE. These models quantitatively link the nematic orientation patterns within the tissue to the emergent three-dimensional morphology, providing a predictive framework for tissue shape programming. The integration of active nematic elastomer theory with mechanobiological principles permitted the exploration of various mechanistic hypotheses, ultimately confirming that cell orientation orchestrates tissue deformation through spatially regulated stress fields.
The implications of this work extend far beyond fundamental biology. By endowing living tissues with programmable mechanical properties, the study opens a gateway to engineering three-dimensional biological constructs without reliance on artificial scaffolds, a long-standing challenge in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. Such smart living materials could morph autonomously, adapting their shapes in response to environmental signals or internal cues, thereby revolutionizing biohybrid robotics where biological actuators perform sophisticated mechanical functions.
Further, the platform offers an unprecedented tool for biomedical research, enabling the dissection of morphogenetic processes such as organogenesis and tumor progression through controlled experimentation on tissue mechanics governed by nematic order. Understanding how cellular alignment patterns affect mechanical force generation and consequent tissue evolution empowers researchers to decode complex developmental phenomena and disease mechanics at a systems level.
Xavier Trepat, ICREA Research Professor at IBEC and co-lead author, underscores the novelty of the approach: “Our findings demonstrate that by precisely controlling cellular orientation within a tissue, we can predesign the ultimate three-dimensional shape the tissue will adopt. This paradigm represents a fundamental shift in our capacity to program living materials.” Pau Guillamat, postdoctoral researcher and first author, elaborates, “Orientation dictates forces, and forces sculpt shape. Through chemical patterning, we have choreographed this dynamic interplay to engineer living surfaces with programmable morphologies.”
The multidisciplinary nature of the work, merging bioengineering, theoretical mechanics, and cellular biology, epitomizes the forefront of translational science, where fundamental insights culminate into tangible applications. The collaboration with EMBL in Barcelona furthers the mechanobiological analysis at the molecular scale, complementing the macroscale mechanical modeling and experimental tissue engineering.
Looking ahead, the envisioned applications are diverse and impactful. In regenerative medicine, the capacity to engineer tissues that fold and shape themselves could eliminate the need for external scaffolds or mechanical intervention, offering a more naturalistic and integrative approach to tissue replacement. In biohybrid robotics, living tissues engineered with programmable deformation propensities may serve as actuators that mimic muscle functionality with greater efficiency and adaptability than synthetic materials. Moreover, the prospect of smart living materials capable of dynamic reconfiguration suggests novel paradigms in biosensing, responsive surfaces, and implantable devices.
This strategy extends the frontier of biological material design by leveraging the inherent active mechanics of cellular assemblies. It accomplishes what synthetic materials engineering continually strives for—the ability to program, predict, and reliably produce complex, functional shapes from simple initial conditions, but within a living context that is self-sustaining, adaptive, and capable of self-repair.
The Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) is renowned for its interdisciplinary research at the junction of life sciences and engineering. Alongside IBEC, CIMNE provides extensive expertise in computational mechanics, and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) contributes rigorous engineering methodologies, creating an ideal synergy for such innovative research. Supported by prestigious funding bodies including the European Research Council and the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, the research underscores the potential and strategic vision of European scientific initiatives in bioengineering.
Beyond the technical achievements, this work exemplifies a transformative vision for the future of living materials. By controlling cellular orientation via chemical patterning and exploiting the physics of nematic elastomers, researchers now have a blueprint for programming living tissues that dynamically respond, morph, and function as integrated systems. This knowledge propels the field toward a new era where biology and engineering coalesce to create programmable life-like materials that could redefine healthcare, robotics, and materials science.
Subject of Research: Animal tissue samples
Article Title: Guidance of cellular nematic elastomers into shape-programmable living surfaces
News Publication Date: 16-Apr-2026
Web References: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.adz9174
Image Credits: Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC)
Keywords
Tissue engineering, cellular nematic order, topological defects, biohybrid robotics, smart living materials, mechanobiology, chemical micropatterning, tissue morphogenesis, active nematic elastomers, regenerative medicine, computational mechanics, programmable living surfaces
