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

Researchers from Northwestern University, the University of Michigan, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have engineered colloidal crystals – highly ordered three-dimensional arrays of nanoparticles – with complementary strands of DNA and found two things: (1) dehydration crumpled the crystals, breaking down the DNA hydrogen bonds; and (2) when water was added, the crystals bounced back to their original state within seconds. This new property, which is a type of "hyperelasticity coupled with shape memory," is controlled by the particle-interconnecting DNA's specific sequence and influences the object's structure and compressibility. 

Researchers from Oregon State University and the Texas Biomedical Research Institute have demonstrated in a mouse model that it’s possible to prompt the production of a protein that can block multiple variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from entering cells and causing respiratory disease. Using messenger RNA (mRNA) packaged in lipid nanoparticles, the scientists showed in the mouse model that host cells can produce a “decoy” enzyme that binds to coronavirus spike proteins, meaning the virus shouldn’t be able to latch onto cells in the host’s airway and start the infection process.

Researchers from Northeastern University, Rensselaer Polytechnic University, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, and the University of Science and Technology of China have achieved a major advancement in nanowire synthesis by discovering a new, highly dense form of silicon and mastering a new, scalable catalyst-free etching process to produce ultra-small silicon nanowires of two to five nanometers in diameter. Through computational analysis and modeling, the researchers were able to show that despite unusual properties, the new material was a form of silicon with a very thin layer of oxide on top.

The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office is announcing Dr. Branden Brough as the new Director of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) and Dr. Quinn Spadola as its Deputy Director.

Dr. Brough joins the NNCO from the Molecular Foundry, a U.S. Department of Energy-funded nanoscale science research center that provides users from around the world with access to cutting-edge expertise and instrumentation. He will also serve as OSTP’s Assistant Director for Nanotechnology. As the Molecular Foundry’s Deputy Director, Dr. Brough was responsible for helping guide the organization’s scientific plans and initiatives, while also managing the center’s operations. Before joining the Molecular Foundry, Dr. Brough worked at the NIH’s National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, where he led strategic policy and planning activities, as well as Congressional and public outreach efforts. Dr. Brough received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering – focusing on the integration of synthetic motor molecules and natural self-assembling proteins into micro/nanotechnologies – from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Dr. Spadola was the Associate Director of Education for the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI), a network of open nanotechnology laboratory user facilities supported by the National Science Foundation, and the Director of Education and Outreach for the Southeastern Nanotechnology Infrastructure Corridor NNCI site at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Prior to joining the Georgia Institute of Technology, Dr. Spadola was the Education and Outreach Coordinator and a Technical Advisor to the Director at NNCO. She received her Ph.D. in physics from Arizona State University and her MFA in Science and Natural History Filmmaking from Montana State University.

More information is available at: White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Marks National Nanotechnology Day 2022.

A team of researchers at Northwestern University has devised a new platform for gene editing that could inform the future application of a near-limitless library of CRISPR-based therapeutics. The new work provides a system to deliver the cargo required for generating the gene editing machine known as CRISPR-Cas9. The team developed a way to transform the Cas9 protein into a spherical nucleic acid and load it with critical components required to access a broad range of tissue and cell types, as well as the intracellular compartments required for gene editing. Spherical nucleic acids are structures typically comprised of spherical nanoparticles densely covered with DNA or RNA.

Carnegie Mellon University researchers have created a new type of microelectrode array for brain computer interface platforms. It holds the potential to transform how doctors can treat neurological disorders. The ultra-high-density microelectrode array, which is 3D-printed at the nanoscale, is fully customizable. This means that one day, patients suffering from epilepsy or limb function loss due to stroke could have personalized medical treatment optimized for their individual needs.

Researchers from Arizona State University, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences are exploring a basic building block used in the fabrication of many DNA nanoforms, called a Holliday junction. The researchers used crystallography techniques to describe the characteristics of 36 basic variants of the Holliday junction and showed that the effectiveness of a given Holliday junction for the construction of crystalline nanoarchitectures depends not only on the arrangement of the four nucleotide pairs forming the junction but also on sequences forming the junction's four protruding arms. 

The world's whitest paint -- seen in this year's edition of Guinness World Records and "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" -- keeps surfaces so cool that it could reduce the need for air conditioning. Now the Purdue University researchers who created the paint have developed a new formulation that is thinner and lighter -- ideal for radiating heat away from cars, trains, and airplanes. The new formulation is a nanoporous paint incorporating a two-dimensional material called hexagonal boron nitride as the pigment.

Researchers from the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia have developed a new heat-resistant nanophotonic material that has broken records for stability at high temperatures and shows promise for use to turn heat into electricity. The new nanomaterial could be used in photovoltaic solar panels, thermal imaging, environmental barrier coatings, and camouflage from infrared surveillance.

Researchers at The Johns Hopkins University have developed a new molecular detection platform to help researchers design more efficient and effective mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 virus and its variants. The platform works by tagging mRNA and lipid nanoparticle components with fluorescent signals of up to three colors and passing the sample through a detection plane. The data analysis tells the researchers how many mRNA copies are inside the lipid nanoparticles and the mRNA distribution in the sample.