Category: News

MolES faculty members elected to Washington State Academy of Sciences

Posted on by Renske Dyedov

Chemistry Professors Alshakim Nelson and Munira Khalil are among the 38 new members of the Washington State Academy of Sciences recognized for their “outstanding record of scientific and technical achievement and willingness to work on behalf of the Academy to bring the best available science to bear on issues within the state of Washington.” […]

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Role of solvent molecules in light-driven electron transfer revealed

Posted on by Renske Dyedov
An artistic depiction of small molecules moving within a solvent

In a study published in Nature Chemistry, a research team led by MolES faculty member Munira Khalil, professor and chair of chemistry at the UW, has captured the rapid motions of solvent molecules that impact light-driven electron transfer in a molecular complex for the first time. This information could help researchers learn how to control energy flow in molecules, potentially leading to more efficient clean energy sources. […]

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Researchers use lasers and molecular tethers to create perfectly patterned platforms for tissue engineering

Posted on by Renske Dyedov
Image of a biological scaffold for tissue engineering that has had proteins tethered to it in a specific pattern, in this case the University of Washington's former logo

MolES faculty member Cole DeForest and colleagues have developed a technique to modify naturally occurring biological polymers with protein-based biochemical messages that affect cell behavior. Their approach, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, uses a near-infrared laser to trigger chemical adhesion of protein messages to a scaffold made from biological polymers such as collagen, a connective tissue found throughout our bodies. […]

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Characterizing microbial communities in the human gut and soil to understand their roles in health, disease and the environment

Posted on by Corin A Shelley-Reuss

Alex Carr is a 3rd year molecular engineering Ph.D. student co-advised by UW affiliated investigators Drs. Sean Gibbons and Nitin Baliga at the Institute for Systems Biology. We recently spoke with Carr about his research and his experience in the Molecular Engineering (MolE) Ph.D. program. How did you come to pursue a Ph.D. in molecular […]

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