A bottom-up approach to create synthetic tissue

All tissues that make up our bodies comprise two distinct parts: living cells, which provide the biological activity to keep us alive, and a non-living extracellular matrix, a scaffold which confers mechanical functions.

Our bodies undergo stresses throughout our daily lives: our knees compress with every step, while our lungs compress and decompress with each breath.

How do different tissues of our bodies achieve the properties required for their function by combining cells and matrix in different ways?

I will answer this question by building synthetic tissues, allowing me to study the contributions of cells and matrix separately and together.