Polymers at the Interface of Sustainability and Health: Degradable Design & Synthetic Insights

Join us for this double presentation to learn how the rational design of polymers can be used to both protect our environment and advance human health to solve today’s most pressing scientific and societal challenges.

Microplastics now permeate ecosystems, organisms, and even the human body. Biodegradable plastics offer a path forward, and abundant, sustainable polysaccharides hold particular promise. But they can be sensitive to water, and sometimes are too weak or brittle. Kevin Edgar of Virginia Tech will discuss a regio- and chemoselective strategy to create fully degradable composite materials that promise to address these drawbacks, with potential to reduce plastic pollution and fossil dependence without sacrificing functionality.

Cell surfaces are coated with the glycocalyx, an intricate ensemble of glycosylated proteins and lipids that mediates primary interactions between cells and their external environment. The non-templated synthesis of glycans and their complex organization within macromolecular protein scaffolds pose significant challenges for studying their functions and targeting them therapeutically. Kamil Godula of UC San Diego will showcase how glycopolymers can be leveraged to modulate glycan-mediated cellular behaviors, such as directing stem cell differentiation, and to investigate mechanisms of viral entry and host-pathogen interactions.

This ACS Webinar is moderated by Cassandra Callman of The University of Texas at Austin and coproduced with the ACS Division of Polymer Chemistry.