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Distinguished iNANO lecture: How proteins make glass and ice – the molecular picture

Associate Professor Tobias Weidner, Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University

Info about event

Time

Friday 8 March 2019,  at 10:15 - 11:00

Location

iNANO AUD (1593-012), Gustav Wieds Vej 14, 8000 Aarhus C

Associate Professor Tobias Weidner, Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University

How proteins make glass and ice – the molecular picture

Proteins can act as Nature’s engineers at interfaces and manipulate both hard and soft tissue – they can shape biominerals, manipulate cell membranes and control water. The molecular mechanisms behind interfacial protein action have largely remained elusive. Using ultrafast laser spectroscopy, we aim at understanding and mimicking the mode of action by which proteins manipulate interfaces.

I will discuss two examples for protein-controlled nucleation: The high-fidelity control of nanostructured silica by diatoms, which has been the envy of material scientists for decades and the special tricks used by proteins in bacteria to grow ice and attack plants. I will show how surface spectroscopy in combination with computer simulations can provide a detailed picture of how proteins grow glass and ice.

Host: Associate Professor Frans Mulder, iNANO & Dept. of Chemistry, Aarhus University