Robert S. Langer
= Robert S. Langer
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= R. Langer
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\b[Robert S. Langer] is a <chemical engineer> whose work connects <biomaterials>, <drug delivery> and <tissue engineering>. His MIT departmental profile identifies these as research areas, linking the chemical properties of a material to the biological task it is intended to perform.<Robert S. Langer profile by MIT Chemical Engineering>[Research Interests]{ref}
Langer coauthored the primary artery-engineering report and work on surface treatment of polymer meshes for vascular <cell culture>.<Functional arteries grown in vitro by L. E. Niklason and others>[Byline]{ref}<Surface hydrolysis of poly(glycolic acid) meshes increases the seeding density of vascular smooth muscle cells by Jinming Gao and others>[Printed p. 417, byline and abstract]{ref} The mesh study illustrates an interface problem: changing a polymer surface can change initial cell attachment without requiring the whole material to have a different macroscopic shape.
The broader engineering idea is to treat a biological function as a design problem with several interacting constraints. A material intended to support a developing tissue must permit transport and <cell adhesion> as well as supply mechanical support. A <drug delivery> material additionally has a release history: the initial amount loaded does not specify how much becomes available at each time. These distinctions explain why material chemistry, geometry and the biological environment are studied together.