Next Monday, February 1st, at 12 pm, Dr. Anna Laromaine, member of our group, will give the ICMAB Periodical Lecture. Anna will talk about “Caenorhabditis elegans and bacterial cellulose: exploiting nature to build materials”.

Short abstract :
Many researches have been inspired by nature, from the synthesis of materials mimicking our environment to the evaluation of materials using in vivo animal models. In this talk, I will briefly introduce two approaches that we have been working recently in the group.
First, I will present the use of the small animal model, Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). The characteristics of this model organism endorse this 1 mm long nematode as an ideal living system for the primary screening of engineered nanoparticles in a standard synthetic laboratory. I will present how using the worm, we assessed iron oxide nanoparticles in a simple and facile way.
On the other hand, I will present how a bacterial strain can produce cellulose (named bacterial cellulose (BC)), of the same molecular formula as vegetal cellulose; however exhibiting a higher degree of polymerization and better crystallinity. BC also has high porosity, transparency in the UV-NIR and a high water holding capacity. I will show how we controlled its structure and fabricate nanocomposites that can respond to external stimulus.

“Caenorhabditis elegans and bacterial cellulose: exploiting nature to build materials”
By: Dr. Anna Laromaine 
Date: Monday, 1st February
Time: 12 pm
Place: ICMAB Meeting room