Morphological Study of Aqueous Processing of Biopolymers

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9624306 Gido An integrated career development plan is proposed which includes strong components in both research and education. The major components of this plan are: (1) to build a research group of graduate students; (2) to assemble laboratory facilities and equipment; (3) to develop a nationally and internationally recognized research program; (4) to develop educational programs in graduate research training as well as class work for graduate and undergraduate students. The research component of this career development plan is interdisciplinary in the sense that the system of study is natural or biological in origin, but the aspects of this system that are of primary interest fall into the realm of polymer science and materials science. It is proposed to investigate natural silk spinning processes in silk worms and spiders so that these incredibly efficient processes may to be used as models for aqueous processing of genetically engineered biopolymers. The techniques employed in this research will be mainly electron microscopy, electron diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and electron energy loss image filtering (Gatan Imaging Filter) on cryogenically prepared samples. Using these techniques, structure will be corrolated with protein concentration in the aqueous silk solution and the concentration of various salts which are naturally present in the silk gland, and are thought to influence chain conformation and phase behavior. %%% The educational component of this CAREER grant involves outreach to high-school students and teachers, summer programs, and field trips. Results from this research will be incorporated into classroom teaching in order to illustrate general principles of polymer morphology, crystallography, electron microscopy, etc. The techniques discussed in classes are general techniques of polymer science and materials science. ***