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Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology used nanotechnology to create a new, ultrasensitive DNA biosensor. The new sensor could potentially detect DNA-based biomarkers for early diagnosis of cancer and genetic disorders, as well as monitor patient responses to therapies. The researchers made the new biosensor from carbon nanotubes and gold nanoparticles, which give it a 3-D radial shape similar to that of a sea urchin.
Scientists at Oregon State University and Oregon Health & Science University have developed a precise, nanotechnology-based treatment to alleviate the pain and fertility problems associated with endometriosis, a common gynecological condition in women of childbearing age. The researchers used tiny – less than 100 nanometers in size – polymeric materials packed with a dye that can generate both a fluorescence signal and cell-killing heat under near-infrared light. For doctors, that means this technology can be both an imaging tool and a lesion-removal technique.
Scientists at Oregon State University and Oregon Health & Science University have developed a precise, nanotechnology-based treatment to alleviate the pain and fertility problems associated with endometriosis, a common gynecological condition in women of childbearing age. The researchers used tiny – less than 100 nanometers in size – polymeric materials packed with a dye that can generate both a fluorescence signal and cell-killing heat under near-infrared light. For doctors, that means this technology can be both an imaging tool and a lesion-removal technique.
Researchers at Houston Methodist have developed a new delivery system for a diabetes drug. After linking a peptide-based diabetes drug to fatty acids, the researchers packaged the resulting combination in nanoparticles that were resistant to gastric acids in the stomach. The nanoparticles were then injected into diabetic mice, and once the nanoparticles were inside the small intestine, the drug molecules were released from the nanoparticles, and the mice absorbed approximately 25% of the drug dosage.
Researchers at Houston Methodist have developed a new delivery system for a diabetes drug. After linking a peptide-based diabetes drug to fatty acids, the researchers packaged the resulting combination in nanoparticles that were resistant to gastric acids in the stomach. The nanoparticles were then injected into diabetic mice, and once the nanoparticles were inside the small intestine, the drug molecules were released from the nanoparticles, and the mice absorbed approximately 25% of the drug dosage.
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have used a focused beam of electrons to stitch platinum-silicon molecules into graphene, marking the first deliberate insertion of artificial molecules into a graphene host matrix. This process could be useful for prototyping solid-state qubits from graphene and other ultra-thin materials.
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have used a focused beam of electrons to stitch platinum-silicon molecules into graphene, marking the first deliberate insertion of artificial molecules into a graphene host matrix. This process could be useful for prototyping solid-state qubits from graphene and other ultra-thin materials.
A tremendous potential for biomedical applications, including targeted delivery of drugs, exists through DNA nanostructures, but one key challenge has been the limited stability of these structures in the body’s tissues and blood. Now, researchers have circumvented that problem by discovering a potential direct route to biostability: an already existing biostable DNA motif applicable to the design of new drug carriers and diagnostics.
A tremendous potential for biomedical applications, including targeted delivery of drugs, exists through DNA nanostructures, but one key challenge has been the limited stability of these structures in the body’s tissues and blood. Now, researchers have circumvented that problem by discovering a potential direct route to biostability: an already existing biostable DNA motif applicable to the design of new drug carriers and diagnostics.
The process of crystallization, in which atoms or molecules line up in orderly arrays like soldiers in formation, is the basis for many of the materials that define modern life, including the silicon in microchips and solar cells. But there has been a dearth of good tools for studying this type of growth. Now, a team of researchers at MIT and the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, both in Cambridge, MA, has found a way to reproduce the growth of crystals on surfaces, but at a larger scale, which makes the process easier to study and analyze. Rather than assembling these crystals from actual atoms, the researchers used spherical nanoparticles of gold, coated with specially selected single strands of genetically engineered DNA.
