Welcome to Seto Lab
A research group of biophysicists, chemists, and engineers dedicated to understanding Nature and its processes in making novel structures, materials properties, and function in biological and bio-inspired materials.
*The land we live and work on is the ancestral and unceded territory of the Maricopa, Pima, O’Odham, and Piipaash peoples.
Research
The rapid growth and ability to regenerate from neglible nutrients and environmental resources, make fungal mycelia an ideal source for sustainable, primary natural biological building blocks that can be made into new, novel materials. The ability to be processed with conventional tools and ambient conditions makes this an ideal biological material for scale-up. We are exploring a multitude of applications for these fungal mycelial materials.
Fungal Mycelial Materials
Arizona’s soil is a mixture of clay and sandy sediments mixing together with natural erosion and wear to create stunning compositions from the air. These composiitons are the basis of the EICP and MICP processes utilized to create compositions of biocrusts to reduce erosion. This work is in collaboration with the Center of Biomedicated and Bioinspired Geotechnics (CBBG), an NSF ERC at ASU.
Biocementation
Many biological tissues utilize a set of tools very similar from one organism to the next. What differentiates the processes involved in bone or teeth formation in comparison to shell and exoskeleton formation is not well understood. We attempt to understand what components are involved in the formation of these various tissues and how biology is able to regulate these mineralization processes with high spatial and temporal precision.
Biomineralization
Who we are
Many disorders and dysfunction can be attributed to physical states of cells, organelles, enzymes, and conditions of intracellular interactions. By investigating some of these underlying physical states, a better understanding of disease formation and evolution can be delineated. Some of this work is directed towards the components of the oral microbiome and its effects on oral microbiota dysbiosis when systemic health is endangered. We utilize an -omics approach to characterize these states of health.
Physics of Disease
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Jong Seto
PI
Jong is passionately curious about Nature’s structures and functions. He draws inspiration from the environment around him and his colleagues. His hobbies include futsal and his garden.
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Lexi Montero
UNDERGRAD RESEARCHER
Lexi works on fungal mycelia growth and bioreactor scale ups. In her spare time when she’s not studying for her chemical engineering classes, she is President of the Phi Sigma Rho Engineering Sorority.
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Logan Tsosie
UNDERGRAD RESEARCHER
Logan is investigating the nanoscale interactions of casein in EICP of various sands. He uses various materials science methods to characterize binding and adhesion between sand particles.
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Nolan Hoiby
UNDERGRAD RESEARCHER
Nolan is a junior in Chemical Engineering at ASU and is working on investigating fungal mycelia higher order assembly processes.
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Erin Dickey
UNDERGRAD RESEARCHER
Erin is an incoming senior in Biochemistry at ASU and is working on optimizing casein biochemistry such that the interfaces of sand grains can have better bond strengths in biocementation mixtures. Her hobbies include soccer, baking, and hanging out with her dog, Rico.
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ALUMNI
GRADUATE/PhD RESEARCHERS
John Mergo, Ph.D. (now Technical Staff Member, Aerospace Corporation)
Ashit Rao, Ph.D. (now Research Scientist, University of Twente)
Sophia Marzouk, Ph.D. (now Research Scientist, Immunocore)
Elvan Aydin, M.S. (now Staff Member, Turklab Devices)
POSTDOC/TECHNICAL STAFF
Stephanie Wu (now in Private Practice)
Seto Lab News
11/30/2023 Congrats to the Seto Lab for receiving BASF funding for a proposed EXTREME protective synthetic seed coating for agriculture applications.
08/21/2023 Congrats to Erin for winning Best Poster Award at the ACCGE-23 Poster Session!
05/25/2023 Welcome to the Lab, Erin!
04/15/2023 Join us August 13-18 in Tucson for the 23rd ACCGE/OMVPE meeting—Jong is co-organizing the Biological and Biomimetic Materials Session!
04/01/2023 Contribute to a new Special Collection of Articles on “Advanced in situ Characterization Methods at Biological Interfaces” in Frontiers of Bioengineering
03/03/2023 Lab receives Arizona Biomedical Research Centre New Investigator Funding for fluorosis work.
02/20/2023 Welcome to the Lab, Nolan!
Check back for more lab news!
News
Our Mission Statement
Here, we outline core principles and goals that guide us in our scientific pursuits. We constantly strive to align our pursuits with issues affecting the world, and we will hold frequent discussions as a lab group to update our mission and to determine how best to achieve it. Please feel free to reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions.
Our IDEAs (Inclusion-Diversity-Equity-Access) We are committed to fostering an environment that is welcoming and inclusive to members of all backgrounds, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, disability status, socioeconomic status, or any other factor. We are also committed to using our voices and our position of privilege to support scientists of all backgrounds and to effect positive change.
We recognize that members of several backgrounds have faced disproportionate challenges and are historically underrepresented in the sciences, most notably Native Americans and African-Americans. We strongly encourage individuals from underrepresented backgrounds to apply for positions in our lab at any level.
This document is constantly under development. In particular, many remaining aspects of this statement such as our lab values and our plans to uphold them as well as the responsibilities of the PI and lab members are being developed in collaboration with group members. Please check back for further details and updates.
Selected Publications
Krishnan V, Tirkolaei HK, Kazembeyki M, van Paassen LA, Hoover CG, Seto J, Kavazanjian E, “Nanomechanical Characterization of Enzyme Induced Carbonate Precipitates,” Crystals. 2022, 12 (995), 1-16.
Abdelaziz M, Yang V, Chang N, Darling C, Fried W, Seto J, Fried D, “Monitoring silver diamine fluoride application with optical coherence tomography and thermal imaging” Lasers Surg Med. 2022 (1), 1-14.
Abdelaziz M, D Fried, N Chang, V Yang, W Fried, J Seto, C Darling, “Monitoring silver diamine fluoride application with optical coherence tomography,” Proc. SPIE 11627, 2021, 116270M, 1-6, doi: 10.1117/12.2584901.
Mergo JC, J Seto* “On Simulating the Formation of Hard, Brittle Mineralized Tissue from Amorphous Precursors” Frontiers in Polymer Composites for Bio- Applications, 2 Front. Mater. 2020, 7:75. doi: 10.3389/fmats.2020.00075.
Seto J, JA Horst, DY Parkinson, JC Frachella, JL DeRisi, “Silver microwires from treating tooth decay with silver diamine fluoride” J Ped Dent, 2020, 42 (3), 226-31.
Seto J, “On a Robust, Sensitive Cell – Free Method for Pseudomonas Sensing and Quantification in Microfluidic Hydrogels” Micromachines. 2019, 10(506), 1-15.
Feschenko I, A Laraoui, J Smits, N Mosavian, P Kehayias, J Seto, L Bougas, A Jarmola, VM Acosta, “Diamond Magnetic Microscopy of Malarial Hemozoin Nanocrystals” Phys Rev Appl., 2019, 11(3), 1-36.
Cho KR, Kulshreshtha P, Wu KJJ, Seto J, Qiu SR, DeYoreo JJ, “The effects of different types of additives on growth of biomineral phases investigated by in situ atomic force microscopy” J Crystal Growth 2019, 509(1), 8-16.
Stock SR, J Seto, AC Deymier-Black, A Rack, A Veis Growth of secondary growth stage mineral in Lytechinus variegatus Connect Tiss Res 2017, 58(6), 1-11.
Our Coordinates
Laboratory Address: 1001 S. McAllister Avenue, 4th Floor Biodesign C, Tempe AZ 85287
we are affiliated with the
School for Engineering of Matter, Energy, and Transport at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ
and
Biodesign Center of Biomaterial Innovation and Translation
and
Center for Biological Physics
and
Center of Biomediated and Bioinspired Geotechnics
