Polymers are everywhere, from the synthetic materials used in our clothes to natural polymers such as our DNA.
Christopher Barner-Kowollik describes them as "small molecules strung together like pearls on a string to form a giant molecule". He has devoted his career to probing how synthetic polymers form.
"If we understand what happens on a molecular level, we can control what happens on a molecular level," he explains. "We're like molecular engineers."
His goal is to improve polymerisation techniques so that chemists have precise control over the architecture of the polymers they create. Among other possible designs, he describes spherical, block- and star-shaped polymers with a galaxy of applications.
One area of particular interest is the development of 'nanospheres': hollow, spherical polymers a few nanometres wide that could be used in targeted drug delivery. Using Barner-Kowollik's techniques it might be possible, for example, to engineer nanospheres that release anti-cancer drugs only at tumour sites, avoiding side effects.
His techniques are also being used in development of a 'nanofish' that might one day unplug arteries or deliver drugs. The device 'swims' using polymers that change shape with changes in pH. This allows an independence of motion not possible in today's targeted therapies that rely on blood circulation to hit their mark.
Barner-Kowollik is already renowned as one of the most influential researchers in polymer science. The key to his success? "Perseverance. Not giving up in the face of adversity," he says, "because in reality most things you try don't work the first time."
He thinks that within 10 years, advances in polymer science could transform many of our dreams – such as side effect-free chemotherapy and terabyte memory chips – into reality.
