---
title: "Scientists Create “Living Concrete” That Can Heal Itself"
description: "Scientists working with DARPA developed a living concrete, teeming with bacteria, that resembles Jell-O. It can grow and regenerate itself when it breaks."
date: "2020-01-15"
modified: "2020-01-15"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-create-living-concrete-heal-itself"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "bacteria"
  - "DARPA"
  - "materials"
  - "the digest"
---

# Scientists Create “Living Concrete” That Can Heal Itself

![Scientists working with DARPA developed a living concrete, teeming with bacteria, that resembles Jell-O. It can grow and regenerate itself when it breaks.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/frankenstein-concrete-living-bacteria-grow.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## It's Alive!

Scientists at the University of Colorado, Boulder have created what [*The New York Times* calls](<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/15/science/construction-concrete-bacteria-photosynthesis.html>) a "living concrete," teeming with photosynthetic bacteria, that can grow itself and regenerate itself — much like a living organism.

The concrete is a mixture of gelatin, sand, and cyanobacteria that cools similarly to Jell-O, the *Times* reports. The resulting structure was able to regenerate itself three times after researchers cut it apart, suggesting a potential breakthrough in the nascent field of self-assembling materials.

## Growing Back

The living concrete, which the Colorado scientists made in partnership with DARPA, starts out as a sickly green color that fades as the bacteria dies off, [according to research](<https://www.cell.com/matter/fulltext/S2590-2385(19)30391-1>) published Wednesday in the journal *Matter.*

"It really does look like a Frankenstein material," UC Boulder engineer and project leader Will Srubar told the *NYT*.

Even as the color fades, the bacteria survive for several weeks and can be rejuvenated — resulting in further growth­ — under the right conditions.

## Inhospitable Conditions

DARPA is particularly interested in a [self-growing material](<https://futurism.com/darpa-is-working-to-make-homes-that-grow-and-can-repair-themselves>) that it can use to assemble structures in remote desert areas, or potentially even in space, according to the *NYT*.

If the living concrete can scale up to that level, it could reduce the amount — and weight — of materials that space agencies will need to launch.

"There's no way we’re going to carry building materials to space," Srubar told the *NYT*. "We'll bring biology with us."

**READ MORE:** [Bricks Alive! Scientists Create Living Concrete](<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/15/science/construction-concrete-bacteria-photosynthesis.html>) \[*New York Times*\]

**More on materials:** *[Scientists Create Material With "Living Metabolism"](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-create-material-artificial-metabolism>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)