Phys.org July 25, 2019
Researchers in Canada report hierarchically structured hydrogels of self-organized M13 bacteriophage bundles, composed of hundreds of M13 nanofilaments, which exhibit both long-range and micron-scale order, are visible in electron micrographs of the cross-linked state. They adsorb up to 16× their weight in water, exhibit advanced properties at room temperature, namely, self-healing under biological conditions, autofluorescence in three channels, which decays through biodegradation, potentiating non-destructive imaging capability, and bioactivity toward the host bacteria. The latter is a powerful property, allowing the development of hydrogels with tunable bioactivity when combined with the phage display and/or recombinant DNA technology. The gel holds promise for numerous beneficial applications in medicine and environmental protection… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Credit: Chemistry of Materials https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.chemmater.9b00720