I am a 2nd year Interdisciplinary Bioscience DTP DPhil student. My research interests revolve around understanding the protein dynamics and chemistry behind the spinning/fibrillation process of silks as well as the general protein structure of silks.
I previously worked on the effect of different solvents on the mechanical properties of Nephila edulis Major and Minor ampullate silks, and have also done some work on the artificial spinning of silkworm silks from natural silk dope.
My current projects include the incorporation of unnatural azide-bearing amino acids into spider silks, as well as inclusion of molecules into/within silkworm silks. In the future, I intend to try out some high-resolution spectroscopic techniques (cryo-EM, NMR, etc.) on silks/labelled silks. My hope is to combine the information obtained from these projects in order to provide a better understanding of the structural chemistry and protein dynamics of silks.
Prof. Fritz Vollrath and colleagues from the Fudan University in China are widely covered in the news for their discovery of a means to produce fake Rhino horns using horse hair. Hopes are that this product may undermine the illegal market for rhino horn, and demistify the properties of rhino horn. View Here
