Hamad-Schifferli Group
Mechanical and Biological Engineering
In biology there are numerous examples of systems which far exceed any man-made machine in terms of efficiency, precision, and complexity. We would like to be able to take advantage of the engineering that Nature has done for thousands of years and directly manipulate biological molecules. Our goals are to create nanoscale interfaces to biology to control biological processes. This requires not only exploiting the unique size and material dependent properties of nanoparticles but also understanding and engineering their interface to biology, which is a crucial part of their implementation in any biological application.
Understanding nanoparticle interfaces to proteins
Understanding nanoparticle interfaces to DNA