DNA Floor Boards

非技术：化学家和工程师面临的挑战之一是在纳米到毫米的尺度上按照明确的顺序排列分子；这种顺序对于创造具有可预测和独特性能的材料至关重要。例如，大自然通过将生物分子按特定的顺序排列，制造出具有高强度、高弹性或导电性等特点的材料，从而创造出大型生物结构。人类还没有成功地模仿大自然的这种非凡能力，形成复杂但有序的组件，这仍然是一个挑战，这使得这是一个高风险但高回报的项目，适合EAGER项目。在pi的实验室中偶然发现了毫米尺度上高度有序的DNA和蛋白质组装的自发形成。建议进行系统的研究，以了解在实验室中，在简单混合试剂的非常简单的条件下，这些组合是如何形成的，以便获得如何形成和操纵这些从纳米到毫米的组合的重要见解。这些超级结构可以用于太阳能捕获、转化为液体燃料、dna计算机或先进的生物材料。在此奖励期间，一些研究生、本科生和高中生将接受这里开发的最先进的跨学科方法的培训。技术：大自然有能力在纳米到毫米的尺度上形成复杂的生物分子超结构。这种具有非凡细节的优雅组件的构造在实际应用中是非常有希望的。这些组装可能具有变革性，同时导致在基于dna的电子元件、生物电子元件、生物太阳能电池、生物燃料电池或用于细胞图案的生物材料的生物分子组装方面的新研究领域的创建。最近，在PI的实验室里，人工制造的蛋白质和DNA分子被观察到形成了形状从纳米到毫米不等的直线组合，所有这些都是通过自组装完成的。理解这种组装形成的复杂机制，并揭示驱动它的基本力量，将使复杂、功能、先进、新型生物材料的构建取得重大进展。为了解决这一挑战，将在分子水平上系统地修改蛋白质和DNA结构，并建立组装形成所需的最小特征。先进的方法，如透射电镜，原子力显微镜，流动二色，纳米量热法，扫描电镜和极化显微镜将被用来检查组织在不同的长度尺度，这将有助于阐明自组装的机制。该项目的广泛影响是双重的。一是这些高度新颖的生物材料可能在组织支架、传感、细胞生长、生物分子电子学、dna计算和太阳能应用方面具有价值。第二方面是教育部分，高中生、本科生和研究生将接受生物材料设计、生物分子组装和生物光谱学方面的培训。研究训练将与项目目标相结合。

Non-technical: One of the challenges for chemists and engineers is to arrange molecules in a well-defined order on nanometer to millimeter length scales; such order is essential to create materials with predictable and unique properties. For example, nature creates large biological structures by arranging biomolecules in a particular order to produce materials with high strength, high elasticity or conductivity and so on. Humans have yet to successfully mimic this extraordinary ability of nature to form complex but well-ordered assemblies, and it remains one of the challenges, which makes this a high risk but high pay-off project and suitable for the EAGER program. The spontaneous formation of highly ordered assemblies of DNA and proteins on millimeter scales were serendipitously discovered in the PIs laboratory. Systematic studies are proposed to learn how these assemblies are formed in the laboratory, under very simple conditions of simply mixing of the reagents, so that important insights into how to form and manipulate these assemblies from nanometers to millimeters can be gained. These super structures may find use in solar light capture, conversion to liquid fuels, DNA-computers or advanced biomaterials. During this award period a number of graduate, undergraduate and high school students will be trained in the state-of-the-art and interdisciplinary methodology developed here.Technical: Nature has the ability to form complex biomolecular super structures on nanometer to millimeter length scales. The construction of such elegant assemblies with extraordinary detail is highly promising for practical applications. These assemblies could potentially be transformative while leading to the creation of new areas of research in biomolecular assembly for DNA-based electronics, bio-electronic components, bio-solar cells, bio-fuel cells or biomaterials for cellular patterning. Recently, artificially created protein and DNA molecules were observed to form extraordinary assemblies that are rectilinear in shape with order ranging from nanometers to millimeters, all via self-assembly, in the PI's laboratory. Understanding the complex mechanism of this assembly formation and unraveling the fundamental forces that drive it would allow a major advancement in the construction of complex, functional, advanced, novel biomaterials. To address this challenge, the protein and DNA structure will be systematically modified at the molecular level and minimum required features for the assembly formation will be established. Advanced methods such as TEM, AFM, flow-dichroism, nanocalorimetry, SEM and polarization microscopy will be used to examine organization on various length scales which will enable the elucidation of the mechanism of self-assembly. Broader impacts of this project are two-fold. One is that these highly novel biomaterials may be of value for tissue-scaffolds, sensing, cell-growth, biomolecular electronics, DNA-computing and solar energy applications. The second aspect is the educational component, where high school, undergraduate and graduate students will be trained in biomaterials design, biomolecular assembly and biological spectroscopy. The research training will be integrated with project goals.