Films Genetic Engineering

Here, the specific and strong chelating interaction between 6 x Histidine and the tetradentate nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) mediated by Ni2+ [43] was used for the immobilization of a reconstituted LHCII mutant, whose c-terminus was extended by 6 x Histidine residues via genetic engineering (cf. Fig. 13(A)). NTA terminated thiols and OEG (spacer) thiols were used to built up a mixed SAM (X = 0.4) on a substrate coated by 23 nm silver and 5 nm Au (the gold layer was used to protect the silver film from being oxidized). 

Proteins are natural, renewable, and biodegradable polymers which have attracted considerable attention in recent years in terms of advances in genetic engineering, eco-friendly materials, and novel composite materials based on renewable sources. This chapter reviews the protein structures, their physicochemical properties, their modification and their application, with particular emphasis on soy protein, zein, wheat protein, and casein. Firstly, it presents an overview of the structure, classification, hydration-dehydration, solubility, denaturation, and new concepts on proteins. Secondly, it concentrates on the physical and chemical properties of the four important kinds of proteins. Thirdly, the potential applications of proteins, including films and sheets, adhesives, plastics, blends, and composites, etc. are discussed. 

Genetic engineering techniques could resurrect life for extinct animals, such as mammoths, or extinct human species, such as Neanderthals. Although farming DNA that is viable for such use is difficult, theoretically such feats could be accomplished. A film that was based on this possibility is Jurassic Park (1993), based on a novel of the same name hy Michael Crichton. 

The anchoring of biomolecules on electropo-lymerized films can be achieved by affinity interactions via the formation of a single attachment point between both entities. In contrast to the chemical grafting, this approach may better preserve the biological activity and provide a specific orientation of the biomolecule previously modified by genetic engineering. 

Machado, R., da Costa, A., Sencadas, V., Pereira, A.M., Colhns, T., Rodrfguez-Cabello, J.C., Lanceros-Mendez, S., Casal, M., 2015. Exploring the properties of genetically engineered siUc-elastin-hke protein films. Macromol. Biosci. 15, 1698-1709. 

Chung, W.J., Merzlyak, A., Yoo, S.Y, Lee, S.W., 2010. Genetically engineered hquid-crystalline viral films for directing neural cell growth. Langmuir 26, 9885-9890. 

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