BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-// BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:19700329T010000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=-1SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:19701025T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=10;BYDAY=-1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT CATEGORIES:BSS Formal Seminars SUMMARY:Molecular bionics: copying Nature to control Natur e - Prof Beppe Battaglia (University of Sheffield) DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20130125T140000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20130125T150000 UID:TALK43103AT URL: DESCRIPTION:Bionics (from Greek Βιονικός Βιο -unit of life an d νικός -derived from) is the study of making arti ficial systems implementing functions and features found in biological structures. With advent of na notechnology we can now translate this approach at molecular level and construct novel structures th at mimic (and possibly improve) biological functio ns. We apply this approach to research problems t hat require a considerable understanding of biolog y to tackle clinical challenges. We start identif ying the tools necessary to address the specific c linical problem\, we subsequently study in details the interactions between the nanostructured mater ials and the living system often adapting and/or d eveloping new techniques. Finally we test our devi ces using detailed pharmacological and medical cha racterisations. This approach is highly interdisci plinary and combine fundamental science with engin eering coalescing expertise from across discipline s such as synthetic chemistry\, polymer science\, soft matter physics\, biophysics\, cell biology\, immunology\, oncology\, and neuroscience. I will d iscuss briefly our molecular tools based on waterb orne self assembly\, the chemistry and the physics behind the resulting structures\, how these can b e combined to engineer simple or complex structure s and how parameter such size\, shape\, topology a nd surface topography affect their interaction wit h biological systems. Finally I will show few exam ples how such an approach can lead to new clinical applications. LOCATION:Small Lecture Theatre\, Cavendish Laboratory CONTACT:Shery Huang END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR