Biomimetic Chemistry Research Group School of Chemistry THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

1. Biomimetic Chemistry Research Group School of Chemistry THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Dr. Pall Thordarson (Palli) Senior Lecturer Chemistry UNSW Tall Poppy NSW What has Chemistry ever done for us and what can Nanotechnology do for us?

2. My background: 1971: Born Vopnafjordur, Iceland, grew up on a farm 1991: High School, Egilsstadir, Iceland – Natural Science stream 1995: BSc. Chemistry – University of Iceland, Reykjavik 1996: Research worker – Science Institute Main project: Polyunsaturated fatty acids from cod liver oil 1997: Came to Australia, PhD at the University of Sydney Main project: Self-replicating systems 2000: Volunteer at the Olympics (including horse handler) 2001: PhD Graduation, The University of Sydney 2001: Marie Curie Fellow, Nijmegen, The Netherlands Main project: Mimicking DNA-enzymes 2003: Back to Australia, The University of Sydney 2006: Australian Research Council – Australian Research Fellow 2007: Australian Citizen 2007: Senior Lecturer UNSW 2008: NSW Tall Poppy Science Award

3. What do I do now? (not much – my co-workers do it all!) Light-driven bio-hybrids My co-workers: 4 BSc. Hons. students 4 PhD Students 2 Post-doctoral Fellows 1 Research Assistant Self-assembled gel Self-assembled gels for drug delivery Biomimetic Chemistry Research Group School of Chemistry THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

4. What has Chemistry ever done for us • and what can • Nanotechnology do for us? • What has Chemistry ever done for us • Would you be alive without modern chemistry?

5. Would you be alive without modern chemistry? Penicillin – still saving people from deadly infections (did you ever get an ear infection?) Relenza – might save us TOMORROW from the Swine-Flu! (invented by Australian Chemists in 1989)

6. Would you be alive without modern chemistry? Artificial Fertiliser: Ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) – has it allowed up to 4 billion more people on this planet? World population: 1900 = 2 Billion 2000 = 6 Billion NH4NO3 first made in ca. 1910 Coincidence?

7. Chemistry has also had an enormous social impact Time 7th April, 1967 When these two steroids are mixed we call it “The pill” Norethisterone Ethinylestradiol

8. Chemistry has also had an enormous social impact Time 4th May, 1998 30 years later – Chemists at the Drug company Pfizer were looking for a new drug for high blood pressure: Sildenafil These scientists discovered some interesting side-effects in male patients The marketing people called it: VIAGRA (the “blue pill”)

9. What has Chemistry ever done for us • and what can • Nanotechnology do for us? • 2. So what can Nanotechnology do for us? • What is Nanotechnology?

10. What is Nanotechnology? The science of very small things This is not small, these are micro, not Nano The making of useful devices or machines where in at least one dimension the fabrication is controlled in the nanometer scale http://mems.sandia.gov/scripts/images.asp

11. Device Manufacture Molecular Science What is nanotechnology? Nanotechnology

12. 1025m ~1 billion light years, the approximate range of universe observed by human being 1014m 100 billion km (or 0.1 Pm, Petametre) the complete orbit of planet Pluto The Scale in Meters 1021m ~ 100,000 light years, roughly the size of Milky Way 107m 10,000 km, we can see most of the world

13. The Scale in Meters 10 m we can see the players in the field 10-4m 100 mm we can see the cells in a human body (~17 mm) • 103m • 1 km • we can see the arrangement of houses • 10-2m • 1 cm • details of the skin

14. The Scale in Meters 10-7m 100nm, we can see a strand of DNA 10-10m 100 pm (pico), the size of an atom surrounded by electron cloud • 10-6m • 1mm, clustering of chromosomes • 10-9m • 1nm, the molecular structure of DNA

15. The Scale in Meter 10-14m 10fm, we can see the protons and neutrons in the nucleus 10-16m 100 am (atto), the quarks in details (~10-19m) • 10-13 m • 100fm (femto), we can see the nucleus of an atom • 10-15m • 1fm, we can see the quarks which form the protons and neutrons

16. WHY NANOTECHNOLOGY? • Information Technology • Defense • Health and Medicine • Minerals/Chemical Processing • Cosmetics Nanotechnology has impacted us primarily in:

17. WHY NANOTECHNOLOGY? • Fundamentally new properties • Exciting new mechanisms • Strange and Fancy Size Dependent Behavior!!

18. Colour of nanophase materials vary according tothe size of their constituent grains, orclusters. All four vials above contain Cadmium Selenide. But because these otherwise identical samples all have different-size clusters, each takes on different hue under white light (left) and ultraviolet light (right).

19. From Nature to Science • The lotus leaf is considered sacred in Oriental religions for its ability to stay dry and clean. When water drops on the leaf, it beads up and rolls off the waxy surface, washing away dirt as it goes.

20. When a lotus leaf is examined under a high-powered microscope, it does not have the waxy, smooth surface that appears to the naked eye. Rather, it is bumpy—a characteristic that aids repelling water

21. NanoPowders– It’s what you can’t see • Nanopowders are transparent to visible light.

23. - • Biomimetic Nanotechnology • Cheap solar cells from nanocrystalline TiO2 to reduce greenhouse gas emission (Electricity from the Sun) Conducting glass TiO2 film Porphyrin dye Electrolyte with I-/I-3 Biomimicry Biomimetic Chemistry Research Group School of Chemistry THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

24. What do I do? Light-driven bio-hybrids Biomimetic Chemistry Research Group School of Chemistry THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

25. Nanotechnology in Medicine • Tiny detectives: this optical nanofiber can be used to study a particular cell without destroying it.

26. Nanofiber gels and tissue engineering Hydrophobic Hydrophilic C18-GlyGlyGlyGlyAlaAlaAlaGluIleLysValAlaVal (C18-GGGAAAAEIKVAV) Growth promotor for neural cells (epitope) G. A. Silva, C. Czeisler, K. L. Niece, E. Beniash, D. A. Harrington, J. A. Kessler and S. I. Stupp, Science, 2004, 303, 1352.

27. Nanofiber gels and tissue engineering Self-assembly Self-assembly Promotes neural regrowth in spinal injuries! 1 mm G. A. Silva, C. Czeisler, K. L. Niece, E. Beniash, D. A. Harrington, J. A. Kessler and S. I. Stupp, Science, 2004, 303, 1352.

28. Nanofiber gels and tissue engineering Self-assembly Promotes neural regrowth in spinal injuries! Movies G. A. Silva, C. Czeisler, K. L. Niece, E. Beniash, D. A. Harrington, J. A. Kessler and S. I. Stupp, Science, 2004, 303, 1352.

29. Self-assembled gels and Tissue Engineering Mimicking the Extracellular Matrix (ECM) The ECM controls cell-cell interactions and growth Important for tissue regeneration, tumour growth…

30. What do I do? Self-assembled gels for drug delivery Self-assembled gel Drug release from self-assembled gels Cancer drug release Biomimetic Chemistry Research Group School of Chemistry THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

31. Thanks to: My group: Sabrina, Josh, Alex, Shiva, Katie, Danny, David, Lip Son, Warren, Ski, Ben and Alice $$$ for my work: Australian Research Council NSW Cancer Institute My wife for her patience For giving me the opportunity to speak to you: Australian Institute of Policy & Science/The Tall Poppy Champaign And finally YOU!