Research Projects

Areas of Research in the Waite Lab

Biotools
Living organisms are equipped with a variety of implements, which help them cope with the more physical challenges of survival. These include teeth, fangs, beaks, spines, claws etc, essential in feeding, defense, and predation.

Self-healing Biofibers
Self healing in the context of living organisms is usually associated with cell-mediated processes as in platelet-mediated blood coagulation after a cut. Some biomaterials, however, show intrinsic healing not dependent on cells.

Wet Wonder Glue
Water is the nemesis of practical adhesive bonding, yet the rocky intertidal seashore is home to a host of organisms that spend their lives attached to solid surfaces surrounded and assaulted by water and waves. Dopa seems a key to adhesion in many of these organisms.