Nanostructures News and Research

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Scientists use optical radiation to treat cancer at the cellular level

Wanting to achieve early cancer detection, a group of scientists from the Center for Research in Optics (CIO) of Guadalajara, in Mexico, seeks to address the problem from the cell with optical radiation.

23 Mar 2015

New method of spectral analysis identifies fingerprints of chemical substances with greater accuracy

Elements and their compounds will no longer be able to hide in mixtures, even if the latter are made up of many components.

11 Feb 2015

MU researcher developing nano-scale molecules to image, treat different diseases

Nanomedicine is the medical application of nanotechnology, or the use of microscopic structures to diagnose, image, treat and prevent disease. Current problems in nanomedicine include understanding and anticipating the potentially toxic impact these nanostructures have on the body and the environment once they're released.

17 Dec 2014

MIT engineers create new computer model to design complex 3-D DNA shapes

MIT biological engineers have created a new computer model that allows them to design the most complex three-dimensional DNA shapes ever produced, including rings, bowls, and geometric structures such as icosahedrons that resemble viral particles.

3 Dec 2014

Nanostructures around brain cells may have role in central nervous system function

An accumulation of a protein called amyloid-beta into large insoluble deposits called plaques is known to cause Alzheimer's disease. One aspect of this illness that has not received much attention is which role the structure of the brain environment plays.

30 Oct 2014

Novel 'designer' nanodevice could improve cancer diagnostics, treatment

Cancer diagnostics and treatment options could be drastically improved with the creation of a 'designer' nanodevice being developed by researchers from the UK, Italy, the US and Argentina.

22 Oct 2014

Researchers unlock secret behind the activation of Ras proteins

A breakthrough discovery into how living cells process and respond to chemical information could help advance the development of treatments for a large number of cancers and other cellular disorders that have been resistant to therapy.

4 Jul 2014

Scientists present new method of nickel-carbon heterofullerenes synthesis

Scientists from several British, Spanish and Russian research centers (MIPT, Institute for Spectroscopy RAS, Kurchatov Institute and Kintech Lab Ltd) have come up with a method of synthesizing a new type of nickel-carbon compound.

9 Jun 2014

Progress in constructing protein nanomachines

A route for constructing protein nanomachines engineered for specific applications may be closer to reality.

6 Jun 2014

New molecular "clamps" offer powerful new tool for identifying individuals with increased risk of cancer

An international research team has built molecular "clamps" out of DNA that offer a powerful new tool for identifying individuals with an increased risk of cancer.

7 May 2014

Self-assembling DNA cages hold potential promise in drug delivery

Move over, nanotechnologists, and make room for the biggest of the small. Scientists at the Harvard's Wyss Institute have built a set of self-assembling DNA cages one-tenth as wide as a bacterium.

17 Mar 2014

Berkeley Lab scientists explore bacteria-resistant materials as a line of defense against Staph infection

The bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a common source of infections that occur after surgeries involving prosthetic joints and artificial heart valves. The grape-shaped microorganism adheres to medical equipment, and if it gets inside the body, it can cause a serious and even life-threatening illness called a Staph infection. The recent discovery of drug-resistant strains of S. aureus makes matters even worse.

5 Mar 2014

Ten researchers receive 2014 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prizes

This year's recipients of the most important prize for early career researchers in Germany have been announced. The selection committee, appointed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), has chosen ten researchers, three women and seven men, to receive the 2014 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prizes.

20 Feb 2014

New modular structures 'glued' with DNA to deliver cancer medications

A team of researchers at the University of Toronto has discovered a method of assembling "building blocks" of gold nanoparticles as the vehicle to deliver cancer medications or cancer-identifying markers directly into cancerous tumors.

28 Jan 2014

Researchers develop diagnostic nanomachine to screen diseases that have genetic basis

As part of an international research project, a team of researchers has developed a DNA clamp that can detect mutations at the DNA level with greater efficiency than methods currently in use. Their work could facilitate rapid screening of those diseases that have a genetic basis, such as cancer, and provide new tools for more advanced nanotechnology. The results of this research is published this month in the journal ACS Nano.

20 Dec 2013

Scientists to deliver lecture on innovations in chemistry at ACS meeting

One scientist is developing breakthrough electronic sutures and medical implants that dissolve when their jobs are done. Another is a pioneer in the field of energy conversion that could lead to development of high-performance solar cells and new types of electronic devices that could integrate into the body.

6 Dec 2013

Penn researchers advance towards new DNA sequencing technique using graphene nanoribbon

The instructions for building all of the body's proteins are contained in a person's DNA, a string of chemicals that, if unwound and strung end to end, would form a sentence 3 billion letters long. Each person's sentence is unique, so learning how to read gene sequences as quickly and inexpensively as possible could pave the way to countless personalized medical applications.

19 Nov 2013

Harvard University receives $3.5M grant to develop super-resolution microscopy technique

A team at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University has been awarded a special $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop an inexpensive and easy-to-use new microscopy method to simultaneously spot many tiny components of cells.

4 Oct 2013

Nanostructures made of DNA strands can encapsulate, release small-molecule drugs

Nanoscale "cages" made from strands of DNA can encapsulate small-molecule drugs and release them in response to a specific stimulus, McGill University researchers report in a new study.

2 Sep 2013

STED-RICS microscopy method records rapid movements of molecules in live samples

The newly developed STED-RICS microscopy method records rapid movements of molecules in live samples. By combining raster image correlation spectroscopy (RICS) with STED fluorescence microscopy, researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) opened up new applications in medical research, e.g. analyzing the dynamics of cell membranes at high protein concentrations.

25 Jul 2013