Sean Bird
Alicia and I are currently working on the biogels project. The goal of our project is to better understand how hydrogels composed of FG-repeat proteins, which act as a barrier to diffusion toward a majority of macromolecules while selectively allowing the diffusion of a particular class of proteins into its matrix, can be realized on a synthetic platform. At present, we believe this goal has been achieved and we are working with other groups at IU to test the capabilities of our material. Further, we are utilizing a variety of techniques to better characterize our material; including microscopic, spectroscopic, and electrochemical methods. Personally, I am interested in how this material can be used for analytical purposes. While these purposes are not entirely clear at the moment, by probing the capabilities of our hydrogel, we hope to find utility in this exciting material.