Sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Here, two materials work together: a network of peptide nanofibers (red) has grown “hairs” of polymer chains (green). The red nanofibers mimic natural brain structures. The green polymer chains are a strong and biocompatible material.
In the hybrid shown here (in yellow), the best properties of both parents combine into one new material -- which is ideally suited to guide and support brain cells during development. The chemist and neurobiologist who created this material are collaborating – just like their invention — to develop new materials to be used in the next generation of regenerative medicine.

Christopher Synatschke + Zaida Álvarez

Simpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology

Fluorescence Microscope