Nanosized Contributions Making Big Impacts on Microbiome Research—Paul Weiss, PhD—UCLA Microbiome Center

"One of the unanticipated developments that really came from nano is that we evolved from chemistry, physics, engineering, medicine, toxicology, and so forth, and we learned to adopt each other's approaches and adopt each other's problems," says Dr. Paul Weiss, UC Presidential Chair, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry, and Distinguished Professor of Material Science & Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

He continues by explaining how the communication and collaborative approaches in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology have served the world of microbiome research, and how they might impact other fields of research as well.

After developing the BRAIN Initiative under the Obama Administration, Dr. Weiss and his team were asked to lead the technological roadmap effort for the National Microbiome Initiative, which gathered scientists and engineers from around the world with a common goal: to understand what technologies can be used to understand how different species interact in the microbiome of humans, oceans, and soils.

Dr. Weiss discusses a number of interesting topics and accomplishments of the Paul Weiss Lab, so tune in for all the details. You will discover:

• How the BRAIN Initiative laid out which technologies would be necessary for measuring chemical signals in the brain and understanding how neural circuits work
• How Dr. Weiss' group is trying to address single gene mutation diseases like sickle cell and apply the same approach to cancer immunotherapy
• How chemical cues and the ability to place functionality is useful in tissue engineering, for example in the creation of an antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory periodontal membrane that encourages bone regrowth and controls degradation