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MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
EECS Event |
Wednesday, February 14, 2001
4:30 PM
Bartos Theater
Media Laboratory Colloquium
Abstract
Understanding of new materials at the molecular level has become increasingly critical for a new generation of nanotechnology, namely, the design, synthesis and fabrication of nano-devices at the molecular scale. New technology through molecular self-assembly as a fabrication tool will become tremendously important in the coming decades. Basic engineering principles for microfabrication can be learned by understanding molecular self-assembly phenomena. Self-assembly phenomenon is ubiquitous in nature. The key elements in molecular self-assembly are chemical complementarity and structural compatibility through noncovalent interactions. We have defined the path to understanding these principles. Numerous self-assembling systems have been developed ranging from models to study of protein folding and protein conformational diseases, to molecular electronics, surface engineering, and nanotechnology. Several distinctive types of self-assembling peptide systems have been developed. Type I, "molecular Lego" forms a gel matrix scaffold for tissue engineering; Type II, "molecular switch" as a molecular actuator; Type III, "molecular hook" and "molecular Velcro" for surface engineering; Type IV, "molecular capsule" for gene delivery and Type V, "molecular cavity" for biomineralization. Type VIT, peptide nanotubes can be functionalized for fabricate nanodevices. these self-assembling systems are simple, versatile and easy to produce. These systems represent a significant advance in the molecular engineering for diverse technological innovations.
Bio
Shuguang Zhang is the Associate Director of the Center for Biomedical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He discovered a self-assembling peptide system while working in molecular and structural biology with Alexander Rich at MIT. This serendipitous discovery was selected to be one of the fifteen research achievements over last quart century at MIT. He pursues actively on the various self-assembling peptide systems to develop a new class of biological materials, that include peptide matrix scaffold for tissue engineering, biological surface engineering for cell pattern formation, molecular switch, molecular hook and molecular Velcro that interact with other biological molecules and cells. He also works on problems to gain understanding of a class of protein conformational diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and the prion diseases (mad cow disease). He holds two US patents and several additional pending patents on the self-assembling peptide systems.
He received his Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) and was a recipient of Regent Fellowship and a Graduate Mentor Fellowship at UCSB. He received his B.S. from Sichuan University in China. He was a past American Cancer Society Fellow at MIT. He is currently a Whitaker Foundation Investigator. He is a Visiting Professor of Tsinghua (Qinghua) University in Beijing and of Sichuan University in Chengdu, China. He is a Scientific Advisor for Acorda Therapeutics in New York; EngeneOS in Cambridge; and for Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation Research Center in Yokohama, Japan. He is members of AAAS, American Society of Biochemistry and molecular Biology (ASBMB), The Human Genome Organization Americas (HUGO), the Protein Society, New York Academy of Sciences, The International Society for the Study of Origin of Life (ISSOI) and the honorary society of Sigma Xi. He has been recently nominated for the 2001 Discovery Prize (administrated by the Discover Magazine and Disney).