Here, I will present our recent efforts to prepare well-defined polymers and particles that can interface with biological systems. A strong focus in our laboratories is to discover novel antimicrobial strategies, such as the development of particles for the delivery of antimicrobial peptides and polymers. We employ modular an efficient chemistries that allow us to explore biological activity (e.g. siRNA delivery, microbial behaviour) in a timely fashion and understand how our polymers and nanoparticles affect biological function.