Nanotech

Revolutionary nanotechnology illuminates brain cells at work

Until now it has been impossible to accurately measure the levels of important chemicals in living brain cells in real time and at the level of a single cell. Scientists at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Plant Biology and Stanford University are the first to overcome this obstacle by successfully applying genetic nanotechnology using molecular sensors to view changes in brain chemical l...

Nanotechnology to provide portable genetic risk detection

Currently being developed by the IST project OPTONANOGEN, a prototype of the system will initially be used to detect mutations of the BRCA1 gene that are responsible for between 2.5 and 5 per cent of the incidence of breast cancer in women. The final system, however, could be used to detect virtually any genetic anomaly as well as proteins linked to viruses, chemical contamination in food or wate...

Scientists develop nanotech-laser treatment that kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue

Scientists at Stanford University have developed a new laser therapy that destroys cancer cells but leaves healthy ones unharmed. The new, non-invasive treatment is described in a study published in the Aug. 1 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). "One of the longstanding problems in medicine is how to cure cancer without harming normal body tissue,"...

New, unique microscope for nanotech

UC Davis researchers in nanotechnology, chemistry and biology now have access to one of the most advanced microscopes of its type in the world. The new Spectral Imaging Facility, opened this fall, is a combination of an atomic force microscope and a laser scanning confocal microscope, the first commercial machine of its kind. The atomic force microscope was built by Asylum Research of Sant...

Nanotechnology may find disease before it starts

Nanotechnology may one day help physicians detect the very earliest stages of serious diseases like cancer, a new study suggests. In laboratory experiments on mice, scientists found that nano-sized particles injected into the animal...

Nanotechnology being used to improve biocompatibility of human prosthetics and implants

As populations of the world age the current trend is that people are not slowing down in their later years. The desire for increased activity among the elderly also means increased demands on medical researchers to come up with better ways to keep them active. In the fields of implants and prosthetics calcium phosphate (CP) coatings on titanium alloy implants are proving their worth in orthopaedi...

Nanotech tools yield DNA transcription breakthrough

Rutgers researcher Richard H. Ebright and his collaborators have resolved key questions regarding transcription, the fundamental life process that was the subject of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Transcription is the first step in the process cells employ to read and carry out the out instructions contained in genes. Transcription is carried out by a molecular machine known as RNA po...

Silver bullet: UGA researchers use laser, nanotechnology to rapidly detect viruses

Waiting a day or more to get lab results back from the doctor's office soon could become a thing of a past. Using nanotechnology, a team of University of Georgia researchers has developed a diagnostic test that can detect viruses as diverse as influenza, HIV and RSV in 60 seconds or less. In addition to saving time, the technique ?which is detailed in the November issue of the journal Nano...

Nanotechnology propels advances in regenerative medicine research

The study, which was directed by Scripps Research Professor Benjamin Cravatt, Ph.D., is being published in the September 8 issue of The Journal of Biological Chemistry. The new study describes a pathway-different than the one previously suggested-for the biosynthesis of neurotransmitter lipids, N-acyl ethanolamines (NAEs), which include the endogenous cannabinoid ("endocannabinoid") ananda...

New nanotechnology able to examine single molecules, aiding in determining gene expression

A new nanotechnology that can examine single molecules in order to determine gene expression, paving the way for scientists to more accurately examine single cancer cells, has been developed by an interdisciplinary team of researchers at UCLA's California Nanosystems Institute (CNSI), New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, and Veeco Instruments, a nanotechnology compan...

Nanotechnology shows promise as next wrinkle fighter

The next big idea in preventing wrinkles is very, very small. The cosmetic arsenal to fight human w...

Nanotechnology meets biology and DNA finds its groove

The object of fascination for most is the DNA molecule. But in solution, DNA, the genetic material that hold the detailed instructions for virtually all life, is a twisted knot, looking more like a battered ball of yarn than the famous double helix. To study it, scientists generally are forced to work with collections of molecules floating in solution, and there is no easy way to precisely single...

Iowa State scientists demonstrate first use of nanotechnology to enter plant cells

A team of Iowa State University plant scientists and materials chemists have successfully used nanotechnology to penetrate plant cell walls and simultaneously deliver a gene and a chemical that triggers its expression with controlled precision. Their breakthrough brings nanotechnology to plant biology and agricultural biotechnology, creating a powerful new tool for targeted delivery into plant ce...

FDA sees nanotech challenges in every product category it regulates

WASHINGTON, DC—According to Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies Director David Rejeski, “Today, FDA took a step forward in fulfilling its responsibilities for nanotechnology oversight. If nanotechnology regulation was a baseball game, FDA has scored the first run in the first inning. But the agency must act rapidly to adopt and fully implement the Nanotechnology Task Force’s recommendations....