DNA nanotechnology produces an artificial molecular machine that changes shape when it encounters a specific antibody or other protein molecule, and emits light to signal the target’s presence.
Archive for the 'Bionanotechnology' Category
A lipid bilayer supported by a mica surface assisted the mobile self-assembly of DNA nanostructures of various shapes into micrometer-scale 2D lattices.
Prof. Art Olson discussed how we understand what we cannot see directly, how we integrate data from different sources, and how to develop software tools to move forward.
Optimized Geek podcast featured Christine Peterson on the future of nanotechnology, human lifespan, artificial intelligence, finding love, and other topics.
Hijacking a viral method of replicating circular genomes, ball-of-yarn-like DNA clews are used to transport the protein and guide RNA molecules needed for gene editing into the cell nucleus.
DNA strands decorating cell membranes like ‘Velcro’ program the adhesion of cells to other cells or to extracellular matrices to build tiny tissue models.
A micromotor covered with the enzyme carbonic anhydrase zips through water rapidly converting dissolved carbon dioxide to the bicarbonate ion, which can then be precipitated as calcium carbonate.
Designing a small DNA origami that can fold in several almost equivalent ways demonstrates how understanding and guiding the folding pathway can improve the efficiency of the folding process, potentially leading in more complex situations to higher yields of the desired nanostructure and fewer misfolded structures.
Adding nanotechnology-based optoelectronic sensors to human cells cultured on a chip keeps the cells healthy long enough to replace animal testing with a human liver-on-a-chip.
A new set of design rules enables constructing any wireframe nanostructure, which may lead to new medical applications and new nanomachines.
Modeling DNA strand displacement cascades according to three simple rules can in principle mimic the temporal dynamics of any other chemical system, presenting a method to model regulatory networks even more complicated than those of biology.
Functional ribosomes with subunits engineered to not separate at the completion of each protein translation cycle make possible engineering systems to make a variety of novel polymers with novel properties.
An automated design process folds arbitrary meshes to produce DNA origami structures difficult to design by previous methods, including more open structures that are stable in ionic conditions used in biological assays.
Nanobreadboards made of DNA bricks provide twice the positional precision, twice the packing density, and faster prototyping than do alternative means to arrange functional molecules.
Recent research demonstrates that certain non-aqueous solvents can not only be used to assemble DNA nanostructures, but offer certain advantages over conventional aqueous solvents.
To educate potential entrepreneurs on strategies for moving discoveries from the benchtop to successful commercialization, Foresight co-sponsored an event in the “Ph.D. to Startup” Workshop Series of the Berkeley Postdoc Entrepreneur Program.
Technology developed by Nanobiosym, founded by Anita Goel, to enable personalized diagnostic testing won the Grand Prize of the Nokia Sensing XCHALLENGE in 2013, and this month was awarded the top prize in the Galactic Grant Competition.
At the 2013 Conference Joseph Puglisi described how single molecule fluorescence techniques were used to study changes in the conformation and composition of the ribosome, a large biomolecular nanomachine, during the process of translation of genetic information.
Using the enzyme DNA ligase and small DNA strands as building blocks provides an efficient and less expensive path to a large variety of DNA scaffolds and other structures.
Even without special designs and coatings to promote stability, simple DNA nanomachines can survive in human serum and blood for hours or even days, much longer than expected from previous studies using bovine serum, which has more damaging nucleases than does human serum.