{"81771":{"#nid":"81771","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Polymer Libraries Obtained with Combinatorial Techniques Expedite Design and Testing of New Materials","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJ. Carson Meredith, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has pioneered combinatorial synthesis and high-throughput screening in polymer science - techniques that allow researchers to create and evaluate thousands of polymeric materials in a single experiment. On April 1 at the American Chemical Society\u0027s 227th national meeting in Anaheim, Calif., Meredith presented recent advances in biomedical and electronic polymers.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMeredith began his research in 1998 while working on a new biomaterial at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. At that time, measuring biological and mechanical properties of polymers was an expensive and time-consuming task.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As we thought about it, we realized the number of experiments we\u0027d have to run was too large,\u0022 Meredith recalled. \u0022So we took a step back and asked, \u0027What if we could test 1,000 samples at once?\u0027\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EInspired by combinatorial methods used in drug discovery, Meredith developed a technology for depositing large collections of polymers on a single microscope slide, using property gradients to create thousands of variations in composition,  temperature and thickness. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThese polymer libraries dramatically reduce the time and effort required to develop new materials. What\u0027s more, statistical reliability is increased when taking measurements under the same environment.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In contrast, with a traditional one-sample-per-one-measurement approach, you run the risk of not fully optimizing the material,\u0022 Meredith said. \u0022Or you could completely miss the material you wanted to find in the first place.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince joining Georgia Tech in 2000, Meredith has been applying his technologies to develop new materials in the biomedical and electronic arenas. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Biomedical materials are especially challenging to design because they must be compatible with the human body,\u0022 Meredith explained. \u0022Yet the physical surface of polymers can affect the attachment and function of biological cells.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAchieving control over cellular interaction with synthetic surfaces will open new doors in biomaterials, such as engineering artificial tissues that are alternatives to organ transplants or deliver drugs only to diseased cells. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECollaborating with Andr\u00e9s Garc\u00eda in Georgia Tech\u0027s Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Meredith has already developed a technique for growing bone cells on polymer libraries and discovered a unique polymer formulation that causes optimal function.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022By changing the physical microstructure of the polymer, you can achieve large changes in how biological cells respond,\u0022 Meredith explained. \u0022The polymer libraries allow us to pinpoint very accurately the precise composition that works.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Today\u0027s advanced materials have become extremely complex in chemistry, structure and function, which means scientists need faster, more efficient ways to model and test new designs.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2004-04-13 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:38","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2004-04-04T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2004-04-04T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/newsrelease\/screening.htm","title":"Rapid testing"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=\u0022\u003EContact  \u003C\/a\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}