Properties of Biological Materials

At UC Davis, we study the properties of natural and synthetic biological materials through a combination of theoretical, computational and experimental approaches. These materials of life are complex heterogeneous mixtures of disparate building blocks, organized over vastly different time and length scales. They produce dynamic responsiveness to cues from their environment by existing far from equilibrium, organizing themselves hierarchically and modularly into weakly-held networks. Synthetic biological materials are biocompatible and intended to comprise a part of a living structure or biomedical device that performs, augments, replaces or mimics a natural function. They are typically used in medical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology applications.