University of California

Seung-Wuk Lee

Woo-Jae Chung

Jin-Woo Oh

Carolyn Ruth Bertozzi

Jie Song

Arunava Majumdar

Byung Yang Lee

Justyn W Jaworski

Digvijay A Raorane

The present invention provides for a modified virus, such as a recombinant M13 phage, which in an array, such as a film, is capable of producing piezoelectricity. The modified virus comprises a coat protein can displays a negatively charged amino acid sequence. The present invention provides for a device comprising a piezoelectric element comprising a suitable virus, such as the modified virus, a first surface and a second surface, wherein the first surface is in contact with a first electrode and the second surface is in contact with a second electrode, wherein when pressure is applied to the film, the film is capable of generating an electric current. The present invention provides for a method of making the device, and a method for generating electricity using the device.

Virus-based piezoelectric energy generation

The present invention provides, inter alia, a device comprising a colorimetric detection layer configured to undergo a color change upon interaction with a first analyte of interest. The detection layer comprises a first plurality of self-assembled fiber bundles. At least a fraction of the fiber bundles undergo a change from a first conformation to a second conformation upon interaction with the first analyte of interest, thereby undergoing a color change. The invention also provides a method for using the system to detect an analyte of interest.

Biomimetic virus-based colorimetric sensors

The invention provides for a receptor, capable of binding to a target molecule, linked to a hygroscopic polymer or hydrogel; and the use of this receptor in a device for detecting the target molecule in a gaseous and/or liquid phase. The invention also provides for a method for detecting the presence of a target molecule in the gas phase using the device. In particular, the receptor can be a peptide capable of binding a 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) or 2,4,-dinitrotoluene (DNT).

Receptors useful for gas phase chemical sensing

Hydroxyapatite (HA)-binding peptides are selected using combinatorial phage library display. Pseudo-repetitive consensus amino acid sequences possessing periodic hydroxyl side chains in every two or three amino acid sequences are obtained. These sequences resemble the (Gly-Pro-Hyp)repeat of human type I collagen, a major component of extracellular matrices of natural bone. A consistent presence of basic amino acid residues is also observed. The peptides are synthesized by the solid-phase synthetic method and then used for template-driven HA-mineralization. Microscopy reveal that the peptides template the growth of polycrystalline HA crystals &#x2dc;40 nm in size.

Growing community of inventors

Walnut Creek, CA, United States of America

Seung-Wuk Lee