Bacteria help create stronger, lighter new material 23 Feb 2021 Professional Engineering The living material includes bacteria and replicates the 'bouligand' structure found in nature (Credit: Qiming Wang, USC Viterbi School of Engineering) Aerospace panels, vehicle frames and body armour could become stronger and lighter in future thanks to a new material with an unexpected ingredient – bacteria. The living, self-growing materials are in development at the University of Southern California. “We have been amazed by the sophisticated microstructures of natural materials for centuries, especially after microscopes were invented to observe these tiny structures,” said environmental engineer Qiming Wang. “Now we take an important step forward – we use living bacteria as a tool to directly grow amazing structures that cannot be made on our own."