CHEMSEM 4, Oct. 6
The faculty, students and staff of the Andrews University Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry are pleased to invite all to view Professor Nathan C. Gianneschi's Zoom lecture this Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022, at 4:30 p.m. EST on "Melanin: Chemistry, Structure, and Function."
This is the fourth installment of the Dwain L. Ford Lecture Series in the Andrews University Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry 2022 fall seminar program. Everyone is invited to view the Zoom-based lecture at https://andrews.zoom.us/j/97579395521.
This lecture is free and open to all: students, high school through college, and everyone in our community and the public. For Andrews University students, co-curricular credit can be obtained for full attendance at this seminar; students wishing to obtain co-curricular credit must (a) be visible on Zoom at all times, (b) sign in to the Zoom chat as instructed, and (c) sign the Goggle attendance form as instructed.
The Dwain L. Ford Lecture Series is co-sponsored by the Chemistry Honors Society, Andrews University Office of Research & Creative Scholarship, and Andrews University Community Engagement Council.
Seminar Zoom Protocol:
- Mute your sound.
- Turn on your camera.
- Everyone can ask/write a question in the chat.
Speaker Bio
Nathan C. Gianneschi received his BSc (Hons) at the University of Adelaide, Australia, in 1999. In 2005 he completed his PhD at Northwestern University. Following a Dow Chemical postdoctoral fellowship at The Scripps Research Institute, in 2008 he began his independent career at the University of California, San Diego where, until June 2017, he was Teddy Traylor Scholar and professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Nanoengineering and Materials Science & Engineering. In July of 2017, Gianneschi moved his research group to Northwestern University where he is currently Jacob & Rosaline Cohn Professor of Chemistry, Materials Science & Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering. The Gianneschi group takes an interdisciplinary approach to nanomaterials research with a focus on multifunctional materials with interests that include biomedical applications, programmed interactions with biomolecules and cells, and basic research into nanoscale materials design, synthesis and characterization. For this work he has been awarded the NIH Director's New Innovator Award, the NIH Director's Transformative Research Award and the White House's highest honor for young scientists and engineers with a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. Gianneschi was awarded a Dreyfus Foundation Fellowship, is a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and is an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow.
Abstract
Melanin is a class of essential biopolymer found across plant, animal, bacterial and fungal kingdoms with an astonishing array of functions, including pigmentation, radical scavenging ability, radiation protection, and thermal regulation. Nature synthesizes melanin of five known kinds: eumelanin, pheomelanin, allomelanin, neuromelanin and pyomelanin. Among them, eumelanin (black and brown pigment in dark hair) and pheomelanin (the pigment in red hair) are the two most commonly considered forms. The past two decades have witnessed a flourish of eumelanin-based materials, especially polydopamine.
However, the scope of synthetic melanin research beyond polydopamine has been limited. In addition, our understanding of melanin is still limited. This is because, unlike other biopolymers such as proteins and nucleic acids, natural melanin biosynthesis is not directly linked to genetic or sequence-controlled processes and instead has variable starting monomer units that condense and polymerize into nanometer to micron-size particles as composite materials. These natural materials serve as an immense treasury for chemists to find inspiration in the design of multifunctional materials.
A key property of interest here is the ability of melanin to perform as a high surface area “sponge” for absorbing toxins and to act as a scavenger of radicals. In addition, we will describe synthetic melanin analogues that arise from across life on earth and describe their myriad functions from structural color to thermal insulation.
Co-Host
Justin Corbett is from British Columbia, Canada, and is currently a senior biochemistry major at Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan. Outside of school he enjoys mountain biking, backcountry skiing, whitewater kayaking, and mountaineering. After completing his degree at Andrews University, he plans to return to Canada for dental school and then work providing dental care to underserved communities in British Columbia and Yukon territory.
PR
pr@andrews.edu
