Award-winning biologist earns 'Senior Scientist' honors

  • Published
  • By Pete Meltzer, Jr.
  • Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials & Manufacturing Directorate
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  Dr. Morley O. Stone, a research biologist at the Air Force Research Laboratory and recipient of several high-level awards, has been named an AFRL Senior Scientist and has been recognized for important advancements in biomimetics and biotechnology that could have a substantial and far-reaching impact on science and applications supporting the Air Force.

Dr. Stone has been principal research biologist and biotechnology direction leader at the AFRL Materials and Manufacturing Directorate's Survivability and Sensor Materials Division, and has served as the chief of the Division's Hardened Materials Branch.

He was recently appointed to AFRL's Human Effectiveness Directorate as a molecular systems biotechnology researcher and as chairman of a strategic technology effort. However, his work continues to play an important role at the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate.

Dr. Stone's work in biomimetics includes strong interests in sensing, biological self-assembly, biological coloration, soft-matter patterning/lithography, biomineralization, and structural biological materials like silk and elastin.

The focus of his team of research scientists at the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate has been how to best combine the revolution in recombinant DNA technology with traditional materials science applications. This research has included work in materials science, biomimetics, and bioMEMS and bioNEMS (Micro- and Nano- ElectroMechanical Systems), and eventually led to "Star Team" honors from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

Biomimetics investigates how nature organizes materials or uses biological macromolecules to gain a particular function; for example, how biology senses electromagnetic radiation outside the visible region. Materials science employs biotechnology to create unique polymeric materials and enable a better understanding of processes like biomineralization.

BioMEMS/NEMS consider the interface of biological macromolecules with micro- and nano-fabrication. Biologically-derived molecules, for example, serve as catalysts, motors, and binding agents. Dr. Stone and his associates have explored ways to apply these activities to traditional silicon-based MEMS devices. This opens new opportunities for the Air Force.

The biotechnology effort within the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate began about 10 years ago. Initially focusing on snake-based infrared detection, the program has expanded to encompass the broader potential biotechnology possesses when integrated with materials science.

This growth has been incremental, beginning with expansion into other biological models of infrared detection, including the beetle Melanophila acuminata and bacterial thermo-responsive proteins.

In 1999, researchers began working on polymeric micro-fabrication, so that proteins uncovered in the infrared portion of the program could be maintained and presented in vitro. Also that year, a proposal was submitted to examine biological chromophores. The rationale for undertaking this research effort centered on synthetic chromophores used in Air Force applications, although almost no research had been directed at the thousands of chromophores that exist in nature.

Finally in 2000, work was initiated in biological inorganics, and work published from groups in Germany and California now made it possible to examine the biocatalysis of inorganics in vitro. Inorganics play a substantial role in Air Force systems due to their favorable electronic and thermal properties, and the ability to control their formation represents a technology advancement that could revolutionize Air Force materials science.

From 2003-2006, Dr. Stone was detailed as a program manager with the Defense Sciences Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA/DSO), where he directed programs in bio-inspired robotics (Biodynotics), molecular electronics (Moletronics), bio-inspired/bio-derived sensors, and other key areas of research. He returned to the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate and later moved to his current position at the Human Effectiveness Directorate.

Dr. Stone graduated with honors from Wright State University in 1991 with an undergraduate degree in biological sciences, and earned his doctorate degree in biochemistry from Carnegie Mellon University in 1997. He is a past recipient of the Charles J. Cleary Award (Materials and Manufacturing Directorate's most prestigious scientific achievement honor) and the Air Force Basic Research Award Honorable Mention.

Dr. Stone received the AFRL "Commander's Cup" in 2002 from a field of more than 6,000 potential candidates, has been recognized with Air Force leadership and achievement awards, and is a past nominee for the prestigious Arthur S. Flemming Award for scientific accomplishment.

He is an adjunct faculty member at The Ohio State University, has been an advisor to the National Research Council, and is on the editorial board of the journals NanoBiotechnology and Materials Science and Engineering C.

Dr. Stone has been a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Chemical Society, the Materials Research Society, and the Society of Toxicology. He has authored more than 70 publications and given more than 50 invited presentations at symposiums and other scientific gatherings. He is a Fellow of both AFRL and the International Society of Optical Engineering, and was recently awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service.