„CoM2Life“ aims to develop a revolutionary generation of soft biomaterials that are based on the principles of living systems and are able to enter into permanent and reciprocal communication with living systems, i.e. cells and tissues. To this end, the scientists are following an approach that combines the chemistry-centred design of biomaterials with the design of regulatory circuits in synthetic biology. In this way, they are creating the prerequisites for the development of intelligent biomaterials that are capable of selectively detecting signals from their environment, processing them internally and then controlling actuators and effectors as required.

The aim is to enable ground-breaking advances in medical research, including the development of feedback-controlled materials for the needs-based release of drugs and biological effectors for cancer immunotherapy or tissue regeneration, for new tissue models that can replace animal experiments and, in the long term, for the development of artificial organs. Communication sciences are also involved in this highly interdisciplinary project in order to counter the challenge of misinformation about this innovative field of research.