Table 1.

Definitions and potential sector applications of synthetic biological materials.

	Definitions
Synthetic Biology and Materials from Biology	The rapid and predictable engineering of biological micro-organisms to provide access to new materials requiring: •Expanded metabolic space to derive new materials components •New routes to chemicals/materials diversity and new biopolymers •Hierarchical assembly of new biological and hybrid chemical/biological materials (soft, hard, composites and multi-component/functional materials) •Sustainable, affordable and environmentally acceptable methods of production
Synthetic Biological Materials	New Advanced Materials that are genetically encoded and generated from biology by harnessing synthetic biology platforms to create new higher order materials and their components parts. Also, materials produced using synthetic biology platforms in conjunction with other capability platforms (e.g. additive manufacturing) to fabricate multi-component, multi-functional and novel composite materials.
Advanced Materials	Sector Relevance and Examples of Potential Application Areas
Corrosion	Protective and biocompatible coatings.
Bioelectronics	Healthcare for early detection/monitoring and rapid in vivo analysis for micro-bioelectronic systems. In situ monitoring of industrial manufacture systems. Forensics, security, manufacture and diagnostics; electro-active biopolymers. Electro-Genetic devices for bidirectional communication between electronic devices and biological systems. Self-assembly of nanowires for electronics; peptide scaffolds as templates from metalation. Microbial communication for biocomputing, bioenergy and biosensing.
Optical Materials	Novel hierarchical photonic structures for new micro-structures and fabrication of smart optical devices for optical sensors, light-energy conversion and optical materials. 3D photonic structures for application in multifunctional composite materials with applications in communications and specialised applications in the military.
Synthetic Biomimetic Materials	Bio-inspired materials with improved functionality with wide-ranging structures and properties for use as synthesis guides for controlled fabrication of enhanced material (e.g. added strength) and new composites with applications in defence (e.g. armour).
Smart Materials	Multiphase systems/membranes or functionalised materials that can self-assemble, repair or evolve as responsive/controllable materials with diverse applications e.g. in healthcare (personalised medicine) or responsive wearable devices.
Self-healing Materials	Materials able to repair following damage without external intervention used for e.g. the repair of industrial systems through to new touchscreen technologies.
Micro-Mechanical Devices	Bioengineering for biomolecular control, e.g. responsive structures and behavioural materials for biomolecular robotics or biomaterials-based actuators engineered as artificial muscle.
Multicomponent Responsive Materials	Responsive polymers and interface materials with therapeutic or diagnostic medical applications (e.g. drug delivery systems and intelligent therapeutics).