Engineered Biomolecular Interfaces

The 2014 GRC on Biointerface Science brings together scientists and engineers that work and learn in diverse fields of physics, chemistry, biology, biotechnology, materials science, diagnostics, medicine and environmental technologies. The broad focus of the 2014 Biointerface Science GRC is directed onto engineered biomolecular interfaces. These interfaces are not only designed to recapitulate the functions of their natural counterparts, but also to provide platforms for interfacing and signal transduction. By consolidating physical science and engineering of surfaces and interfaces with biology, new opportunities open toward building model synthetic cells "bottom-up", toward rewiring intercellular interactions, and devising novel material interfaces that control and manipulate cellular behavior.

By presenting, discussing, and examining the latest fundamental research and the most advanced aspects involving interfacial interactions between biomolecules and surfaces of various materials, this GRC seeks to bridge the gap and enhance the intellectual interactions between molecular/cellular biology and the medical disciplines on one side, and the physical and chemical sciences on the other. This cross-disciplinary interchange is expected to enhance the quantitative understanding of the molecular mechanisms that govern the behavior of biomolecules (e.g., proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates) and their complex conformational and aggregative states (e.g., conformational folds, vesicles, cellular and tissue organization) at native (e.g., cells, ECM, cytoskeleton) and synthetic interfaces (e.g., culture surfaces, material surfaces, transducers). By integrating engineers and materials experts into the discussion this GRC contributes to the translation of the developed biomolecular concepts into the world of applications (e.g., biomedical devices, sensors, etc.) that are urgently needed for diagnostic strategies and new medical treatments of human diseases, for process monitoring, or in environmental technologies.

The associated Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) program will provide a venue with sufficient intimacy for junior investigators and young scientists to readily establish informal networks with senior investigators for long-term collaborations and a life-time of scientific citizenship.