Inspired by Biology From Molecules to Materials to Machines (2008) / Chapter Skim
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5 Infrastructure and Resources
5 Infrastructure and Resources
Pages 116-130
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From page 116... ...
Work at the intersection of disciplines challenges traditional ways of conducting research and training researchers. Institutions will have to confront these challenges as they implement structures and mechanisms for supporting research that spans disciplinary and departmental boundaries, brings the academic and industrial sectors together with national laboratories, and spans both basic and applied questions.
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From page 117... ...
Education and Training To realize the opportunities in biomolecular materials research, the next generation of scientists and engineers should be taught to work at the intersection of disciplines and to build productive collaborations that span disciplinary boundaries. Institutions should take advantage of institutional strengths and needs in considering undergraduate and graduate curricula and should involve all relevant parties in these discussions.
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From page 118... ...
Integrative Graduate Educa tion and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program are both successful methods for NRC, Bio2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists, Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press, 2003.
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From page 119... ...
The field of biomolecular materials and processes has a particular need to integrate basic and applied approaches and the viewpoints from industry and national laboratories, as well as academic research. For example, it may be appropriate to include industrial advisors in discussions about the most appropriate training mechanisms and educational experiences.
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From page 120... ...
Mechanisms for Bridging Biological and Materials Sciences Research in the field of biomolecular materials and processes is inherently inter disciplinary. Funding for this type of research can often fall through the cracks of what is supported by different funding agencies.
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From page 121... ...
There is clearly room for some funding of the research discussed here within the present boundaries of the funding agencies, and the committee strongly supports those funding mechanisms that currently exist. The committee also strongly supports any additional funding that is made available within the current funding constraints of the agencies; this is the surest way to seed new developments in the field.
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From page 122... ...
Shared Resources and Essential Facilities Biomolecular materials and processes have been fortunate to be among the research areas included in a variety of interdisciplinary programs and centers. Perhaps most prominent are the NSF-funded Materials Research Science and Engi neering Centers (MRSECs)
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From page 123... ...
The next level of single-university, shared facilities that impact biomolecular materials research are the cryo-electron microscopy, micro- and nanofabrication, and molecular expression and modification facilities. Core facilities for these ser 10 NRC, The National Science Foundation's Materials Research Science and Engineering Center Pro gram: Looking Back, Moving Forward, Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press, 2007.
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From page 124... ...
The committee encourages the funding agency representatives to realize the importance of methods and technology development for continued progress in advanced materials research and to gain the requisite biological and biophysical knowledge to utilize the striking features of biological systems for producing the new materials envisioned in this report. Major infusions of funding have resulted in the commissioning of facilities such as the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS)
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From page 125... ...
The continued development and sustenance of such facilities centered around large instruments will remain key to research and development in biomolecular materials and processes. Another model for developing such partnerships that has recently been introduced is exemplified by the Molecular Foundry at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)
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From page 126... ...
Examples are show in Table 5.2. TABLE 5.1 Unique Properties of Biomolecular Materials Drive a Number of Important Applications and Products Property Product Molecular recognition and binding Sensors, medical diagnostics, drugs, and therapeutics Mechanical and structural strength Bulking agents in foods, medical devices, and biomaterials High information content Sensors, diagnostics, implants, storage devices High energy content Biobatteries, biofuels
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From page 127... ...
Specific Biomolecular Material Product Areas Following on fundamental discoveries, biomolecular materials are candidates for new products such as sensors, diagnostics, prosthetics, fuels, and computers. In this section, current and future product areas are described that employ biomolecular materials.
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From page 128... ...
Sensor and diagnostic products include devices that use antibodies, peptides, receptors and their antagonists, ribozymes, nucleic acids and biological cells to specifically and sensitively detect and report events as a result of molecular recognition and binding events. For well-established products that employ components such as antibodies, the development of useful diagnos tics using biomolecular materials is a low-cost, high-volume technology that can be fabricated into easy to use kits, such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
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From page 129... ...
Medical Devices Biomolecular materials in the medical device industry have already achieved considerable penetration into the market. This includes the use of biomolecular polymers in a number of medical devices, including bandages, drug delivery vehicles, stents, orthopedics, and dentistry.
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From page 130... ...
Specific challenges for future commercialization efforts include translation to large-scale production and manufacturing (described earlier) , increasing the long-term stability of products with biomolecular materials, and integrating the materials into devices and products (see Chapter 3)
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