(Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. National Science Foundation)
Engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have modified lipid nanoparticles to not only cross the blood-brain barrier but also to target specific types of cells, including neurons. The researchers showed how short strings of amino acids can serve as precise targeting molecules, enabling the lipid nanoparticles to deliver mRNA specifically to the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels of the brain, as well as neurons. This breakthrough marks a significant step toward potential next-generation treatments for neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

(Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy)
Researchers from the University of Missouri and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have discovered a new type of quasiparticle that is found in nanostructured magnets, no matter their strength or temperature. “We’ve all seen the bubbles that form in sparkling water or other carbonated drink products,” said Carsten Ullrich, one of the scientists involved in this study. “The quasiparticles are like those bubbles, and we found they can freely move around at remarkably fast speeds.” This discovery could help the development of a new generation of electronics that are faster, smarter, and more energy-efficient.

(Funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health)
Scientists from The Ohio State University have combined strategies to deliver energy-disrupting gene therapy against cancer by using nanoparticles. Experiments showed the targeted therapy is effective at shrinking glioblastoma brain tumors and aggressive breast cancer tumors in mice. The approach consists of breaking up structures inside these cellular energy centers, called mitochondria, with a technique that induces light-activated electrical currents inside the cells. “Previous attempts to use a pharmaceutical reagent against mitochondria targeted specific pathways of activity in cancer cells,” said Lufang Zhou, one of the scientists involved in this study. “Our approach targets mitochondria directly, using external genes to activate a process that kills cells.”

(Funded by the U.S. Department of Defense)
Researchers from the University of Central Florida have developed a new technique to detect long-wave infrared photons of different wavelengths based on a nanopatterned graphene. “No present cooled or uncooled detectors offer such dynamic spectral tunability and ultrafast response,” said Debashis Chanda, the scientist who led this study. “This demonstration underscores the potential of engineered monolayer graphene [long-wave infrared] detectors operating at room temperature, offering high sensitivity as well as dynamic spectral tunability for spectroscopic imaging.” The new detection and imaging technique will have applications in analyzing materials by their spectral properties, or spectroscopic imaging, as well as thermal imaging applications.

Heman Bekele, 15, is pursuing scientific research to determine whether it would be possible to use a bar of soap to treat skin cancer. The bar of soap would contain lipid nanoparticles that would carry drugs to the skin where it would fight skin cancer. His scientific curiosity and experience finding and working with mentors has helped him develop and test this idea further and be recognized by TIME Magazine as the 2024 Kid of the Year.