Project Title Genetic Design of a Silk-Inspired Protein Module for Future Rehabilitation Biomaterials
SECTION 1: ABSTRACT This project addresses a key challenge in wearable rehabilitation and soft robotics: many assistive devices still rely on rigid or non-biological materials that can limit comfort, adaptability, and integration with the body. Soft robotic systems offer a promising alternative, but there is still a gap in how biological material principles can be translated into programmable and manufacturable biomaterials for future wearable actuation. The overall objective of this project is to design and assemble a DNA construct encoding a protein-inspired material building block based on motifs from Bombyx mori silk fibroin and elastic protein domains, as a first step toward engineered biomaterials for soft rehabilitation devices.