Engineering tubulin: microtubule functionalization approaches for nanoscale device applications

Engineering and Functionalization of Degradable Scaffolds for Medical Implant Applications

The treatment of bone defects is facing the situation of lacking donations for autotransplantation. As a valid approach, scaffold-based tissue engineering combines the construction of well-defined porous scaffolds with advanced cell culturing technology to guide tissue regeneration. The role for the scaffold is to provide a suitable environment with a sufficient mechanical stiffness, supports f...

Tubulin but not microtubule

Tubulin but not microtubule he pathogens that cause malaria, cryptosporidiosis, and toxoplasmosis share a baffling common feature: a cone-shaped apical structure called the conoid. Previous research has suggested that the conoid is composed of microtubules and has simultaneously provided evidence that it is not. Now, on page 1039, Hu et al. resolve this longstanding dilemma by demonstrating tha...

Combinatorial approaches for inverse metabolic engineering applications

Traditional metabolic engineering analyzes biosynthetic and physiological pathways, identifies bottlenecks, and makes targeted genetic modifications with the ultimate goal of increasing the production of high-value products in living cells. Such efforts have led to the development of a variety of organisms with industrially relevant properties. However, there are a number of cellular phenotypes...

Modeling and Numerical Challenges in Nanoscale Device Engineering

In spite of considerable research effort and progress, high quality simulation-based design of nanoscale emerging devices still presents formidable modeling and computational challenges. Characterization of nanoscale emerging devices needs to be addressed via quantum simulations that need to account for: (i) information of the material at the atomistic level, (ii) multiscale aspects of electron...

Nanoscale Engineering for Biomaterial Surfaces