Press Room Photo: Engineers Make Strides in Diabetes Research at UH
High-resolution
versions available by contacting
Lisa Merkl at lkmerkl@uh.edu
or 713-743-8192.
Peter Vekilov, associate professor
of chemical engineering, and Dimitra Georgiou,
a recent doctoral graduate in chemical engineering,
work with an atomic-force microscope to capture
images of insulin molecules only five nanometers
in diameter.
Photo
by Jeff Shaw
Thousands
of block-shaped insulin molecules, each measuring
five nanometers, attach themselves to crystals in
special locations known as kinks. Vekilov and Georgiou
found that groups of insulin blocks form mounds,
resulting in the creation of multiple kinks. These
additional kinks provided by the mounds allow for
rapid growth of insulin crystals.
