Dr Rona Chandrawati, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Australia

Specialized iNANO Lecture: Biomimicry: Innovations in Diagnostics and Drug Delivery Inspired by Nature

Artificial cells, with their ability to mimic cellular activity, hold tremendous potential for the creation of next-generation therapeutic tools. They resemble biological cells but do not necessarily require the complex structures, and can be designed to perform a specific activity. This lecture will provide an overview of our research in mimicking biological cell architecture. We demonstrate the incorporation of intact liposomes in layer-by-layer assembled polymer capsules, which resemble organelles and cell membranes, respectively. We showed successful enzymatic catalysis in this synthetic construct, and demonstrated their unique ability to continuously generate a potent antioxidant at human body temperature while simultaneously releasing small molecule therapeutics.

I will also highlight our recent development of diagnostic tools based on a biomimetic approach for the selective and sensitive detection of influenza biomarkers at subnanomolar concentrations via membrane fusion mechanism. The new system presents exciting opportunities for the development of early warning point-of-care diagnostic technologies.

Host: Associate Professor Brigitte Städler, iNANO and Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University