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Colloquium

BSE Colloquium Series - Manuela Ciocca

Bioelectronics / Bio-nanotechnology and Bio-hybrid interfaces for medical and plants applications

Date:
Time:
12:00 pm
Chase Hall Room: 219
3605 Fair St
Lincoln NE 68503
Additional Info: CHA
Contact:
Rebecca Wachs, (402) 472-2262, rebecca.wachs@unl.edu
Bioelectronics and bio-nanotechnology offer vast potential for both medical and plant applications. In particular, the development of bio-hybrid interfaces, which combines biological and technological systems, has the potential to revolutionize these fields.
Although several potential benefits are asserted, there are still many challenges to be faced for both medical and plants applications. Bioengineering is the key to solve technological issues, offering multidisciplinary breck-trough technology and opening new getaways to integrate living systems into technological applications.
In the last decades, the fast-growing field of bioelectronics lead to novel promising biomaterials and technological implementations for bio-nanomedicine and for the relatively new concept of bio-hybrid interfaces for plant applications. Organic semiconductors (OSCs) gained great interest in bioelectronics, due to their outstanding electrical and optical features and their significant bio-interfacing capabilities. OSCs are used for the development of biomaterials and bio-sensors enabling the light-mediated stimulation, monitor and control of biological systems.
In this seminar the potential of (opto)bioelectronics will be exploited. Recent advancements in the field, such as Artificial Retina based on semiconducting polymers for colour-sight restoration, Bio-hybrid platform for light-control of ion fluxes in living cells, OSCs nanoparticles integrated in photosynthetic systems for bioenergy production and 3D bioprinted photo-sensitive cell scaffolds for biphotonic applications will be explored and discussed. Technology and fabrication processes will be presented highlighting advantages and drawbacks.
Involving biocompatible electrical materials for stimulating, monitoring and controlling biological functions (e.g. cells proliferation, plants growth), bioelectronics is revolutionizing medical treatment, bioenergy production and agriculture. By blurring the boundary between living and non-living systems, biohybrid interfaces open a new realm of possibilities in both the medical and plant fields. It is our responsibility to explore the potential of this new technology responsibly and find innovative ways to apply its amazing capabilities to improve healthcare and agriculture all over the world.

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This event originated in Biological Systems Engineering.