ARTICLES
A Decoded Stretchy Molecule gives Living Tissues Flexibility (continued)
superb global collaboration shows we can now use computers to
predict the performance of human elastic molecules,” Professor
Weiss said. “It also helps us to accelerate new ways to repair
damaged tissue, like that in wounds.”
The research team also included Dr Giselle Yeo, an Early Career
Development Fellow from the University of Sydney’s Charles
Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences;
Professor Clair Baldock from the University of Manchester in the
UK. The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health,
the Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation,
the Australian Research Council and the Wellcome Trust.
Co-author Markus Buehler, the Jerry McAfee Professor in
Engineering and Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering at MIT, said the findings had implications beyond
disease.
STANSW is grateful for permission from Sydney Univers ity,
courtesy of Rachel Fergus, to agree for this fascinating article
and image to be republished in ‘Science Education News’.
“Understanding the structure of this molecule is not only important
in the context of disease, but can also enable us to translate the
knowledge from this biomaterial to synthetic polymers, which can
be designed to meet certain engineering needs,” he said.
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SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 67 NO 3