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

Michigan State University scientists have invented a new way to monitor chemotherapy concentrations. Too high a dose can result in killing healthy tissue and cells, triggering more side effects; too low a dose may stun, rather than kill, cancer cells, allowing them to come back. The new process is based around magnetic particle imaging that uses superparamagnetic nanoparticles as the contrast agent and the sole signal source to monitor drug release in the body at the site of the tumor.

Michigan State University scientists have invented a new way to monitor chemotherapy concentrations. Too high a dose can result in killing healthy tissue and cells, triggering more side effects; too low a dose may stun, rather than kill, cancer cells, allowing them to come back. The new process is based around magnetic particle imaging that uses superparamagnetic nanoparticles as the contrast agent and the sole signal source to monitor drug release in the body at the site of the tumor.

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists and seven other institutions, led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have identified critical gaps in the understanding of the nanoscale hydrodynamics, molecular sieving, fluidic structure, and thermodynamics of nanopores that are less than 10 nanometers in diameter. Filling these knowledge gaps could lead to new membranes for water purification, as well as new gas-permeable materials and energy storage devices.

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists and seven other institutions, led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have identified critical gaps in the understanding of the nanoscale hydrodynamics, molecular sieving, fluidic structure, and thermodynamics of nanopores that are less than 10 nanometers in diameter. Filling these knowledge gaps could lead to new membranes for water purification, as well as new gas-permeable materials and energy storage devices.

Chemists at Rice University have discovered that bovine serum albumin is prone to pushing gold nanorods into right-handed chiral assemblies. The work suggests that it may become possible to sense the handedness, or chirality, of single proteins – a potential boon for pharmaceutical companies that require drug purity. A molecule with the correct chirality can save a life, while the same molecule of the opposite chirality can be highly toxic.

Chemists at Rice University have discovered that bovine serum albumin is prone to pushing gold nanorods into right-handed chiral assemblies. The work suggests that it may become possible to sense the handedness, or chirality, of single proteins – a potential boon for pharmaceutical companies that require drug purity. A molecule with the correct chirality can save a life, while the same molecule of the opposite chirality can be highly toxic.

Researchers at the University of Delaware have designed an integrated photonics platform with a one-dimensional metalens – a thin lens that can be designed at the nanoscale to focus light – and metasurfaces – tiny surfaces made with nanostructures to manipulate the transmitted or reflected light. This new device could have applications in imaging, sensing, and quantum information processing.

Researchers at the University of Delaware have designed an integrated photonics platform with a one-dimensional metalens – a thin lens that can be designed at the nanoscale to focus light – and metasurfaces – tiny surfaces made with nanostructures to manipulate the transmitted or reflected light. This new device could have applications in imaging, sensing, and quantum information processing.

Quantum computing has the potential to revolutionize technology, medicine, and science by providing faster and more efficient processors, sensors, and communication devices. But transferring information and correcting errors within a quantum system remains a challenge to making effective quantum computers. Now researchers from Purdue University and the University of Rochester have demonstrated a method of relaying information by transferring the state of electrons. The research brings scientists one step closer to creating fully functional quantum computers.

Quantum computing has the potential to revolutionize technology, medicine, and science by providing faster and more efficient processors, sensors, and communication devices. But transferring information and correcting errors within a quantum system remains a challenge to making effective quantum computers. Now researchers from Purdue University and the University of Rochester have demonstrated a method of relaying information by transferring the state of electrons. The research brings scientists one step closer to creating fully functional quantum computers.