“We have found a key to controlling the switching on and off of proteins by combining photochemistry and hydrolysis,” says KTH researcher Tove Kivijärvi.

When designing materials that aim to improve medicine, you need to be able to control the functions of the material in a very precise way. If this is achieved, cell environments similar to the human body can be created in the lab, which is important for understanding biological mechanisms, disease processes and how the body repairs itself. Biological materials can also be used to study how drugs work and to streamline drug testing and preclinical studies.