“An Infectious Approach to Biofabrication,” will be presented by James Culver, University of Maryland. The seminar begins at 4 p.m. March 28, preceded by a reception at 3:30 p.m. in Beadle Center E103. The seminar is free and open to the public, part of the spring 2012 Biotechnology/Life Sciences Seminar Series.
Culver said: "Studies in our laboratory utilize RNA plant viruses as templates for the “bottom up” self-assembly and patterning of novel nanomaterials.
"Using the rod shape Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) as a model nano-template we used molecular genetic and chemical methods to introduce specific structural features onto the virus template that direct its surface assembly and functionalization with a range of inorganic materials that include silica, nickel, cobalt, and palladium.
"Additional modifications were created to direct the oriented assembly of the virus onto a variety of surfaces such as gold, silicon and Teflon. These virus assembled surfaces display an ~80 fold increase in surface area and significantly enhance the activities of functionalized TMV nanotemplates in sensor, battery electrode and superhydrophobic applications. The integration of “bottom up” virus assembly methods with traditional manufacturing processes provides a novel approach for the production of nanoscale materials and devices with enhanced activities."
The complete schedule of seminars may be found at http://biotech.unl.edu/
More details at: http://go.unl.edu/7cz