Projects

Individual Final Project
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oW4llqCBtHTd_fU4BQsxu1bvHlVMxw1XPJHbaQzOp-U/edit?usp=sharing Sequence-Programmed Hygromorphic Coatings from Engineered Elastin-Like Proteins DNA Sequence as a Material Design Variable for Programming Environmental Response Yao Wang | HTGAA 2026
1. Concept What if you could write a line of genetic code and have it determine how a surface curls in the rain? This project treats DNA sequence as a material programming language. Rather than engineering biology to produce a molecule or report a signal, I use genetically encoded elastin-like proteins (ELPs) to ask a more fundamental question: can editing the sequence of a repetitive protein produce predictable, distinct material behaviors at the macroscale?
Group Final Project