Joshua David Bocarsly, 18, of Plainsboro, believes his research for the materials science project he submitted to the Intel Science Talent Search, a program of Society for Science & the Public, will play an important role in the development of artificial polyester ligaments and tendons. Artificial ligaments are engineered to be diodegradable and allow space for cells to integrate into them and regrow damaged ligaments. However, cells do not integrate well with the implants due to the properties of the polyester used. To improve cell ingrowth, Joshua modified the implants with a cell-friendly nanoscale coating. In addition, he found that patterning this surface treatment with stripes induced cell elongation in the direction of the stripes and encouraged growth in an ideal way to regenerate ligaments. While his studies of cell behavior are preliminary, Joshua believes that the research has exciting potential. The son of Andrew and Patricia Bocarsly, Joshua is a founding member and design editor of The First Amendment, a student-run political magazine, and a member of the Science Olympiad at The Lawrenceville School. He is co-captain of the varsity fencing team and has earned honors for his skill. Joshua is fluent in Spanish, which he has studied in Segovia, Spain.

Tags: education, Intel Inspire, Intel Science Talent Search Finalists, Joshua David Bocarsly, Society for Science & the Public

This entry was posted on Friday, March 4th, 2011 at 12:47 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.