September 12, 2016
Stoney’s British Pub
7:30pm
Stoney’s British Pub
3007 Concord Pike
Wilmington, DE
7:30pm
Dr. Stephen FahnestockDuPont Central Research & Development (retired)
“What Is Life?: Application of Biology to Materials Science at DuPont”
About 25 years ago DuPont perceived that innovation in chemistry was becoming more difficult and less profitable, and turned to biotechnology to take up some of the slack. As we thought about that opportunity, the practical question, “What can biology offer that chemistry cannot?” presented the surprisingly difficult fundamental question, “What is life?”. I will discuss in light of that thinking the ways in which biology can impact materials, especially to engineer novel functionality. Finally I will describe one of the DuPont projects that made best use of the unique capabilities of biology — to develop permanent, removable hair coloring, in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson.