Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

This research focuses on two intimately related issues, 'biological matter' and 'biomaterials'. The former may be understood as molecules, materials and structures present in living matter, for example, lipids, proteins, membranes, and DNA, in their natural environment. The latter term 'biomaterials' refers to man-made or designed materials that use organic/biological molecules or structures as building blocks, or their principles of operation. The goals of this project are the following: first, to understand the fundamental processes in mineral formation in living matter, referred to as biomineralization. By understanding how nature makes minerals would give us the knowledge how to build new smart and adaptable materials having applications from medicine to electronics. Second, we aim to understand the dynamics and phenomena controlling lipid rafts, which are vital for intercellular signaling and functioning of many proteins. Finally, we focus on metallic nanoparticles to utilize (laser) light-induced forces in self-assembly and functionalization of materials. All of the above are linked together and their simultaneous application leads to structures such as switchable membranes by utilizing metallic nanoparticles and ligand-functionalized surfaces. This work is done by large-scale computer simulations and analytical theory.