Professor Surya K. Mallapragada spoke on Thursday evening at the Memorial Union regarding her work with polymers used for biomedical applications.

Mallapragada focused on two aspects of her work, gene delivery and biomineralzation.

The first, gene delivery, is the process that uses polymers to deliver genes to cells for gene therapy. Gene therapy is the practice of delivering genes into specific cells to correct defective genes and treat diseases through injection.

The DNA for gene therapy can be delivered in several different ways. Viruses are used, but are more dangerous than the polymers that Mallapragada and her team are researching.

Polymers can be used in the practice of gene therapy to protect the injected DNA until it is at the cell that needs to be corrected. The polymer than dissolves due to either temperature or pH, releasing the genetic material.

Gene delivery can be used to treat diseases, the most prominent being cancer. As Mallapragada said, “There is a lot of interest in trying to cure cancer through gene therapy approaches.”

If the gene therapy method can be used, both genetic material and drugs can be co-delivered, efficiently treating the cancer.

The second area of research covered by Mallapragada was biomineralization. Biomineralization is the process of injecting a material into a patient who has suffered trauma. The new material would serve as a temporary bond to heal wounds in areas such as cartilage.

Mallapragada embarked on this second project with a team University of Iowa and they have created several injectable nanocomposites to use on patients suffering different forms of trauma. The material closes any gaps that have been created and allows the bones or other areas to heal properly.

Mallapragada graduated from Purdue University with a degree in chemical engineering and has won numerous awards, including being named as a Top Innovator under 35 by the MIT Technology Review in 2002.

The lecture was sponsored by the Committee on Lectures, the Women’s Leadership Consortium and Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society.