Franco A. Ferrari

Biosynthesis of Protein Polymers

Nature has demonstrated that proteins can be designed using common elements and repeated strategies to give rise to a set of diverse properties that are unique among materials. These properties enable proteins to perform the mechanical and biological functions that are essential to all living systems. We are striving to exploit the utility and versatility displayed by natural proteins to expand the potential applications for protein-based materials. Our ultimate goal is to create new materials from highmolecular-weight structural proteins, using the 20 natural amino acids in any sequence design of our choice to yield materials with properties not attained by natural proteins. We may accomplish this goal either by building from a natural protein design, optimizing the design for a set of specific functions, or by designing new materials with unique functions. While nature serves as the model for these new protein-based materials, our challenge is to design proteins having properties that exceed those found in nature or that overcome the limitations of natural proteins.