Charting a path for macromolecules

Abstract

Some of the world's best chemists, physicists, and engineers met last month at a workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy to identify interdisciplinary opportunities in macromolecular science and engineering. Invited speakers hinted at areas where exciting tilings could be brewing and raised other issues such as research finding and mechanisms for exchanging information. With the ubiquity of polymers, it's hard to believe people ridiculed the notion of macromolecules back in the 1920s. Now, the field is at a momentous crossroad, said Samuel I. Stupp, chairman of the workshop's organizing committee and professor of materials science and chemistry at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. There are fascinating opportunities to use what is known about macromolecules to benefit chemistry, biology, materials science, and emerging technologies, said Stupp. One example is in the explosive development in cell biology. Cells are loaded with macromolecules that do f...