Inkjet printing of cells and biopolymers

We are using inkjet printing to deposit patterns of silk, collagen and ionic complexes of polypeptides. These guide the growth of cells deposited on the patterns. Yeast has been printed onto agar and the effect of overprinted biopolymer layers on the growth of yeast is being studied. This method allows organized structures of differing cells and biopolymers to be printed in order to study cell-cell interactions.