Probing Silicone-Protein Interactions

Alan Bassindale's research group at The Open University has been interested in the chemistry of silicon compounds for many years and, more recently, in new ways to control the synthesis and reactions of silicon-oxygen framework cage molecules, such as octa- and dodeca- cage silsesquioxanes. Another fruitful research direction in the last few years has been the application of biological methods and reagents to problems in silicon (and metal) chemistry. For instance, the British team has published the first laboratory examples of enzyme-mediated silicon-oxygen bond making and breaking and is also studying aspects of silica transport in diatoms.