Award Abstract #0209795
NER: Biologically Inspired Lithography

NSF Org:	EAR Division of Earth Sciences
Initial Amendment Date:	September 5, 2002
Latest Amendment Date:	September 5, 2002
Award Number:	0209795
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Sonia Esperanca EAR Division of Earth Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date:	September 15, 2002
Expires:	April 30, 2004 (Estimated)
Awarded Amount to Date:	$100000
Investigator(s):	Steven Lower lower.9@osu.edu (Principal Investigator)
Sponsor:	University of Maryland College Park 3112 LEE BLDG COLLEGE PARK, MD 20742 301/405-6269
NSF Program(s):	NANOSCALE: EXPLORATORY RSRCH
Field Application(s):	0000099 Other Applications NEC
Program Reference Code(s):	OTHR, 1676, 0000
Program Element Code(s):	1676

ABSTRACT

Lower

EAR-0209795

This proposal was received in response to the Nanoscale Science and Engineering initiative NSF 01-157, category NER, and is co-funded by the GEO and ENG Directorates. The collaborative team states that while it is generally held that inter- and intra-molecular forces ultimately govern the interactions between biomolecules and inorganic surfaces, it is difficult to gain an appreciation of these forces because they exist at a seemingly infinitesimal magnitude. The central aim of this proposal is to begin to bridge this gap by using force microscopy to discover and explore the nanoscale forces at the interface between bacterially produced proteins and mineral surfaces or other inorganic phases. Force measurements will provide a quantitative measure of the natural affinity between nanoscale biomolecules and inorganic surfaces. These force data will be used to design a soft-lithographic technique in which a bacterium is used as a living "pen" that produces and secretes various proteins as nanoscale patterns onto a solid surface.

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