Daniel Morse

Professor, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology

Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology
Biomolecular Science and Engineering

Daniel Morse

Contacts

Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
UC Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106

tel: (805) 893-3157
fax: (805) 893-8062
d_morse@lifesci.ucsb.edu

Personal web site

Research Description

Conducting research at the intersection of biotechnology and nanotechnology in an exciting new interdisciplinary collaboration that combines the approaches of molecular biology and biotechnology with the skills of colleagues in Materials Engineering, Physics, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, we are discovering the molecular mechanisms governing biomineralization, and using these mechanisms to develop new strategies for the synthesis of high-performance, nanostructured composite materials for tomorrow's advanced optoelectronics, microelectronics, catalysts, sensors and energy transducers. Living organisms synthesize remarkably strong and architecturally controlled mineralized composite materials with a precision of nanoscale fabrication that in many cases exceeds the capabilities of present-day engineering. Our team is fortunate to be at the forefront of research revealing the molecular mechanisms controlling the formation of these materials. We use gene cloning, recombinant DNA and protein analyses, gene- and protein-engineering, site-directed and combinatorial mutagenesis and biomimetic peptide synthesis in conjunction with advanced imaging technologies (including the latest developments in atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, solid-state NMR and laser-confocal immunohistochemistry) to reveal the mechanisms controlling the biosynthesis and supramolecular self-assembly of the high-performance mineralized composites of molluscan shells and pearls, the skeletons of corals, and the silica structures made by marine sponges and diatoms. Discoveries by our students already have revealed previously unanticipated mechanisms responsible for this control (in both calcium-based and silicon-based systems), and have demonstrated that the unique mechanisms that evolved in biological systems for the control of biomineralization can be harnessed for the development of environmentally benign new routes to synthesis of high-performance materials.

Biography

Morse was appointed the Silas Arnold Houghton Associate Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Harvard Medical School before joining the faculty of UCSB. At UCSB, Morse is conducting research at the intersection of biotechnology and nanotechnology in a new interdisciplinary collaboration that combines the approaches of molecular biology and biotechnology with the skills of colleagues in Materials Engineering, Physics, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, where he and his laboratory are discovering the molecular mechanisms governing biomineralization, and using these mechanisms to develop new strategies for the synthesis of high-performance, nanostructured composite materials for tomorrow\'s advanced optoelectronics, microelectronics, catalysts, sensors and energy transducers.

Affiliations

  • Director, Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies
  • Director, Marine Biotechnology Center

Awards/Honors

  • Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health
  • Faculty Research Award from the American Cancer Society
  • Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science

Selected Publications

  • Asprich: a novel aspartic acid-rich protein family from the prismatic shell matrix of the bivalve Atrina rigida, Chem. Biochem, In Press, 2004, Gotliv, B.-A., Kessler, N., Sumerel, J.L., Morse, D.E., Tuross, N., Addadi, L. and Weiner, S.
  • Enzymatic synthesis and nanostructural control of gallium oxide at low temperature, Chemistry of Materials, In Press, 2004, Kisailus, D., J.H. Choi, J. C. Weaver, W. Yang and D.E. Morse.
  • Molecular characterization of the 30-AA N-terminal mineral interaction domain of the biomineralization protein, AP7, Langmuir, In Press, 2004, Kim, IW., D. E. Morse, and J.S. Evans.
  • Template-free synthesis of an anion doped photoconductive thin film of Co(OH)2 with an exceptionally long minority carrier half-life, Advanced Materials, Submitted, 2004, Roth, K. M. and D.E. Morse.
  • The acidic AP8 proteins from abalone shell nacre are the most active modifiers of calcite morphology during crystal growth, Bio-Macromolecules, Submitted, 2004, Fu, G., S. Valiyaveettil, B. Wopenka and D.E. Morse.
  • Expression of a Scr/Hox5 gene in the larval central nervous system of the gastropod Haliotis, a non-segmented spiralian lophotrochozoan, Evolution and Development, 2, 2000, 294-302, Giusti, A.F., V. F. Hinman, S. M. Degnan, B. M. Degnan and D. E. Morse
  • Control of larval metamorphosis and recruitment in sympatric agariciid corals, J. Exper. Mar. Biol. Ecol., 116, 1998, 193-217, Morse, D.E., N. Hooker, A.N.C. Morse and R.A. Jensen
  • Muscle-specific regulation of tropomyosin gene expression and myofibrillogenesis differs among muscle systems examined at metamorphosis of the gastropod Haliotis rufescens, Dev. Genes Evol., 206, 1997, 464-471, Degnan, B.M., Degnan, S.M. and Morse, D.E.
  • Flypapers for coral and other planktonic larvae, BioScience, 64, 1996, 254-262, Morse, A.N.C. and D.E. Morse.
  • Enzymatic characterization of the morphogen recognized by Agaricia humilis (scleractinian coral) larvae, Biol. Bull., 181, 1991, 104-122, Morse, D.E. and A.N.C. Morse