About the Seminar:

Materials found in nature have a variety of properties and functions that have yet to be recapitulated in modern synthetic materials. Using semisynthetic and biologically derived macromolecules we hope to create soft materials that capture the form and function of biological tissues. To achieve this, we use bioreactor derived DNA, the same used in the COVID vaccine, to create biomaterials from an inexpensive, industrially produced, and clinically relevant starting source. In this seminar we will discuss (1) the process by which we obtain and purify DNA (2) The properties of highly concentrated solutions of ring DNA and (3) the development of entropically driven hydrogelation using DNA intercalator interactions. This research demonstrates the utility of bioreactor DNA as a polymer source, explores the dynamics of DNA in the nucleus, and demonstrates a new set of material properties in DNA hydrogels.

About the Speaker:

Nate was born in Houston, TX and was raised in Omaha, NE. He then moved all over the country and learned various things at the University of Iowa, University of California Irvine, and MIT. He then settled at UNH in 2020 and began his career in improving the source, creation, and application of biomaterials. Since that time the Nato Lab has published 3 peer review articles and received the NSF CAREER and the NIH MIRA awards. Outside of the lab, Nate enjoys cooking, biking, skiing, surfing, climbing, printmaking, and the color green.