Researchers at the University of Texas created a miniature zoo for bacteria. By creating these microscopic houses for bacteria, researchers hope to study how communities of bacteria interact with each other and lead to infections.In the experiment, researchers used 3D printing systems to create nanoscale homes for bacteria. These homes were built through the use of a specialized laser. These protein cages were built around the bacteria in a suspended gelatin mixtures. Structures can be designed to any size or shape.With the new 3D-printed bacterial zoos, researchers hope to create a new class of experiments that approximate environments that bacteria find in the human body.To design the containers, researchers created a gelatin-based reagent. Bacteria have the ability to reproduce and live in this gelatin. When warm, the gelatin is a liquid. However, it becomes firm at room temperature. Within the gelatin, there are photosensitive molecules that respond to laser light by sticking together."It allows us to basically define every variable," noted Jodi Connell, a researcher at the College of Natural Sciences. "We can define the spatial features on a size scale that's relevant to what a single bacterium feels and senses. We can also much more precisely simulate the kinds of complex bacterial ecologies that exist in actual infections, where there typically aren't just one but multiple species of bacteria interacting with each other."