News from the NNI Community - Research Advances Funded by Agencies Participating in the NNI

Researchers at the University of Central Florida are developing new technology to make sure people are getting the food they think they’re eating. The work is funded by a recent grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create an easy-to-use and highly sensitive device to detect food fraud, such as the substitution of pork in beef products. The researchers will update existing detection technology, known as a colorimetric lateral flow assay, which uses gold nanoparticles to detect meat proteins. They will create a new metallic coating, made of platinum, palladium or iridium, that will go around the gold nanoparticles to increase their sensitivity.

Researchers at Rice University have discovered details about a novel type of polarized light-matter interaction, with light that literally turns end over end as it propagates from a source. This discovery could help study molecules like those in light-harvesting antennas anticipated to have unique sensitivity to the phenomenon. The researchers observed the effect in the light scattered by a pair of closely spaced plasmonic metal nanorods, when they were excited by the cartwheeling light.

Researchers at Rice University have discovered details about a novel type of polarized light-matter interaction, with light that literally turns end over end as it propagates from a source. This discovery could help study molecules like those in light-harvesting antennas anticipated to have unique sensitivity to the phenomenon. The researchers observed the effect in the light scattered by a pair of closely spaced plasmonic metal nanorods, when they were excited by the cartwheeling light.

Current methods to prepare metal-oxide catalysts, the workhorses of chemical transformations, require high temperatures and pressures. Now, chemists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have described a new technique that produces iron-oxide-coated metal nanoparticles supported on solid iron oxide, in one step, at near room temperature. These materials display high activity for conversion of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide, one of the components of an important fuel and chemical source called syngas.

Current methods to prepare metal-oxide catalysts, the workhorses of chemical transformations, require high temperatures and pressures. Now, chemists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have described a new technique that produces iron-oxide-coated metal nanoparticles supported on solid iron oxide, in one step, at near room temperature. These materials display high activity for conversion of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide, one of the components of an important fuel and chemical source called syngas.

By folding DNA into a virus-like structure, researchers at MIT have designed HIV-like nanoparticles that provoke a strong immune response from human immune cells grown in a lab dish. The DNA nanoparticles, which closely mimic the size and shape of HIV viruses, are coated with HIV proteins that are arranged in precise patterns designed to provoke a strong immune response. Such nanoparticles might eventually be used as an HIV vaccine.

By folding DNA into a virus-like structure, researchers at MIT have designed HIV-like nanoparticles that provoke a strong immune response from human immune cells grown in a lab dish. The DNA nanoparticles, which closely mimic the size and shape of HIV viruses, are coated with HIV proteins that are arranged in precise patterns designed to provoke a strong immune response. Such nanoparticles might eventually be used as an HIV vaccine.

Today, most soldiers wear a heavy, bullet-proof vest to protect their torso, but much of their body remains exposed to the indiscriminate aim of explosive fragments and shrapnel. Designing equipment to protect extremities against the extreme temperatures and deadly projectiles that accompany an explosion has been difficult. Now, Harvard University researchers, in collaboration with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center and West Point, have developed a lightweight, multifunctional nanofiber material that can protect wearers from both extreme temperatures and ballistic threats. 

Today, most soldiers wear a heavy, bullet-proof vest to protect their torso, but much of their body remains exposed to the indiscriminate aim of explosive fragments and shrapnel. Designing equipment to protect extremities against the extreme temperatures and deadly projectiles that accompany an explosion has been difficult. Now, Harvard University researchers, in collaboration with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center and West Point, have developed a lightweight, multifunctional nanofiber material that can protect wearers from both extreme temperatures and ballistic threats. 

Nitric oxide is an important signaling molecule in the body, with a role in building nervous system connections that contribute to learning and memory. It also functions as a messenger in the cardiovascular and immune systems. But it has been difficult for researchers to study exactly what its role is in these systems and how it functions. Now, a team of scientists and engineers at MIT and elsewhere has found a way of generating the gas at precisely targeted locations inside the body. The team's solution uses an electric voltage to drive the reaction that produces nitric oxide. The team's key achievement was finding a way for this reaction to be operated efficiently and selectively at the nanoscale.