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Synopsis

Collagen is one of the most abundant protein in the human body and is an essential component of connective tissues such as skin, tendon ligament and the heart. These tissues have to be strong, tough and in some cases last for a life time. In this talk I will review our current knowledge of the structure and mechanical properties of collagen fibrils, the building block of connective tissues. In particular,  I will show you how Nature makes use of covalent crosslinks between collagen molecules to modulate both their mechanical function and degradation rate. I will also discuss how we can use our understanding of collagen fibril structure and assembly to  build from the bottom-up meter-long collagen fibres  with a unique sensitivity to ultraviolet light and mechanical properties similar to tendons.