Biointerface

A biointerface is the interface between a cell, a biological tissue or a biomaterial with another material. The motivation for biointerface science stems from the urgent need to increase the understanding of interactions between biomolecules and surfaces. The behavior of complex macromolecular systems at materials interfaces are important in the fields of biology, biotechnology, diagnostics, and medicine. Biointerface science is a multidisciplinary field in which (bio)chemists who synthesize novel classes of biomolecules (PNA, peptidomimetics, aptamers, ribozymes, and engineered proteins) cooperate with scientists who have developed the tools to position biomolecules with molecular precision (proximal probe methods, nano-and micro contact methods, e-beam and X-ray lithography, and bottom up self-assembly methods), scientists who have developed new spectroscopic techniques to interrogate these molecules at the solid-liquid interface, and people who integrate these into functional devices (applied physicists, analytical chemists and bioengineers).

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

* Neural interfaces
* Cells in engineered microenvironments and regenerative medicine
* Computational and modeling approaches to biointerfaces
* Nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery and imaging
* Membranes and membrane-based biosensing
* Peptides, carbohydrates and DNA at biointerfaces
* Pathogenesis and pathogen detection
* Molecularly designed interfaces
* Nanotube/nanoparticle interfaces

Related fields for biointerfaces are biomineralization, biosensors, medical implants, and so forth.

Further reading

[http://www.textorgroup.ch/ Biointerface group at the ETH Zurich]