Playing Molecular Legos with Viruses

Bioengineers at UC Berkeley are currently experimenting with a new technique for constructing biomaterials.

These researchers started with very basic materials and tried to mimic the techniques of nature to generate functional materials. The major basic material that Seung-Wuk Lee, professor at UC-Berkeley, pointed out was collagen, which could be used to build functional corneas, skin, teeth, and bone. However, before this could be done, a model was created using the M13 bacteriophage, which is harmless to humans.

Basically, a small sheet of glass was dipped into a solution of M13 and pulled out very slowly (at rates of 10 to 100 micrometers/ minute). Adjusting these speeds, but still keeping them slow, these researchers were able to change the properties of each material, which are shown in the figure below:

- Examples of the materials created using this new technique

Lee says that the success of this technique is in the simplicity. As the glass is being slowly pulled out of solution, self-assembly takes place. This allows researchers to set up the process and then just let it run its course.

Here is the full article if you are interested in reading it:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27083_3-20122705-247/playing-molecular-legos-with-viruses/?tag=txt;title