The Intersection of Biology and Materials Science

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The Intersection of

Biology and Materials Science

George M. Whitesides and Amy P. Wong Abstract This article is based on the plenary address given by George M. Whitesides of Harvard University on March 30, 2005, at the Materials Research Society Spring Meeting in San Francisco. Materials science and biomedicine are arguably two of the most exciting fields in science today. Research at the border between them will inevitably be a major focus, and the applications of materials science to problems in biomedicine— that is, biomaterials science—will bud into an important new branch of materials science. Accelerating the growth of this area requires an understanding of two very different fields, and being both thoughtful and entrepreneurial in considering “Why?” “How?” and “Where?” to put them together. In this fusion, biomedicine will, we believe, set the agenda; materials science will follow, and materials scientists must learn biology to be effective. Keywords: biological, biomedical, nanoscale.

Introduction Materials science and engineering is on a plateau. As a field, it has been one of the most successful in modern applied science. Since its appearance as a separate discipline following World War II, it has created an enormous store of technology.1 The early phases of growth that formed it have, however, slowed, and its practitioners (a mixture of individuals with backgrounds largely in the physical sciences and engineering—metallurgy and ceramics, physics, chemistry, and various branches of engineering) now have the opportunity and the stimulus to look for something new. One opportunity is biomaterials.

A Short History of Materials Science and Engineering Materials science and engineering (MS&E) has grown in four overlapping epochs, each associated with a set of technologies. 1. The Cold War. Materials science is a child of the Cold War. It was created— largely by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and by the large corporate defense contractors— as a part of the effort of the U.S. to secure

MRS BULLETIN • VOLUME 31 • JANUARY 2006

the technology needed to ensure its military capability. In this first phase of growth, MS&E was focused on structures and developed many important materials for high-performance mechanical systems and military technologies, such as alloys for airframes and engines, ceramics for armor, carbon–carbon composites for aircraft and missiles, actinide metals for weapons, and electromagnetic composites for stealth. This period has (at least for the moment) largely ended; the current needs of the military—technologies for urban and jungle warfare, for universal surveillance, for net-centric warfare (centered on information/sensor/communications networks), and for related subjects—are no longer based in large mechanical systems. 2. The birth of information technology. Stimulated both by issues in national security and by the wealth of commercial opportunities created by information technology (IT), materials science developed an important sub-specialty of materials an

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