New Advancements In DNA Nanotechnology Lead To Development of Practical Applications

This 3-D print shows a DNA-based structure designed to test a critical assumption -- that such objects could be realized, as designed, with subnanometer precision. This object is a relatively large, three-dimensional DNA-based structure, asymmetrical to help determine the orientation, and incorporating distinctive design motifs. Subnanometer-resolution imaging with low-temperature electron microscopy enabled researchers to map the object -- which comprises more than 460,000 atoms -- with subnanometer-scale detail.
Credit: Dietz Lab, TU Muenchen

A breakthrough in the understanding of DNA nanotechnology may lead to faster and more efficient ways to manipulate DNA into artificial structures and molecules.

DNA nanotechnology is the science of manipulating nucleic acid like DNA and RNA to form artificial structures. DNA is responsible for storing, transmitting, and encoding genetic information. With DNA nanotechnology, it is used for bio-engineered applications.

DNA is known for its structure; the double helix. The structure is based on the binding of two base pairs of nucleic acid. Because the principle of the pairing of these strands, scientists can manipulate these pairings to form other more complex structures.

There are two studies in DNA nanotechnology; structural and dynamic. Structural DNA deals in building complex molecular structures which can be used as a base for more complex structures or as a shell for other components.

In dynamic dna, the principle is to build an artificial molecular strand or structure that can interact with other strands to achieve a predetermined outcome either structurally or chemically.

There are two ways to manipulate DNA, through molecular modelling or nucleic acid thermodynamics. Molecular modelling is based on understanding the behavior of these components at a molecular and even atomic level. By manipulating the interactions of these acids, the strands can be directed to form patterns or structures.

In nucleic acid thermodynamics, temperature (heat) is used to stimulate these strands to behave in a certain way.

High Tech Smart Surgical Gloves With Sensors and Circuits Through Nanotechnology

These regular surgical gloves may one day be replaced with high tech smart gloves that can aid in healing

According to The Institute of Physics, Nanotechnology encompasses the understanding of the fundamental physics, chemistry, biology and technology of nanometre-scale objects.

Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter and objects on an atomic and molecular scale. These materials measure from one to one hundred nanometers. One nanometer is equal to one billionth, or 10⁻⁹, of a meter. Nanotechnology is a key technology for the future and governments have invested billions of dollars in its future.

A nanobiodevice is technology gained from applying nanotechnology and biology. It is a is a piece of contrivance, equipment, machine, or component used for biological, medical, and clinical purposes. The terms bionanotechnology nanobiotechnology and nanobiology refer to the same technology. During the past decade, nanobiodevice has progressively begun to focus on the establishment of main four fields of biomedical applications of nanotechnology, including

• Diagnostic Devices
• Molecular Imaging
• Regenerative Medicine
• Drug Delivery Systems.

Now, researchers are looking at applying this technology to other items such as surgical gloves to enhance and expand its use in medical procedures.

The power to heal at the tips of your fingers

The intricate properties of the fingertips have been mimicked and recreated using semiconductor devices in what researchers hope will lead to the development of advanced surgical gloves.

The devices, shown to be capable of responding with high precision to the stresses and strains associated with touch and finger movement, are a step towards the creation of surgical gloves for use in medical procedures such as local ablations and ultrasound scans.

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Northwestern University and Dalian University of Technology have published their study today, Friday 10 August, in IOP Publishing's journal Nanotechnology.

Molecular Imaging Making Headway Into Developments In Disease Treatment and Research

Molecular imaging by Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

What is molecular imaging?

Molecular Imaging is a new biomedical research discipline that covers the visualization (imaging), characterization, and quantification of biological processes and stages happening at the cellular and sub-cellular levels of living subjects. It enables scientists and doctors to image the target in real time and in enhanced detail.

It allows the study and observation of the biological process taking place within its own environment instead of by in vitro or ex vivo biopsy/cell culture laboratory techniques. Molecular imagine includes various image capturing systems, cellular and molecular biology, chemistry, pharmacology, medical physics, biomathematics, and bio-informatics.

Robotic Arm To Automate Whole Cell Patch Clamping For Studying Brain Cell

Whole Cell Patch Clamping is a laboratory procedure that allows the study of single or multiple ion channels in cells. Ion channels are pore forming proteins that are present in the membranes that surround all biological cells. Ion channels regulate the flow of ions across the membrane of the cells. They are an assembly of several proteins and are present on all membranes of cell (plasma membrane) and intracellular organelles (nucleus, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, golgi apparatus etc.).

Researchers at MIT and the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a way to automate a process called whole-cell patch clamping, which involves bringing a tiny hollow glass pipette in contact with the cell membrane of a neuron, then opening up a small pore in the membrane to record the electrical activity within the cell.
Credit: Sputnik Animation and MIT McGovern Institute

The process is very useful in studying excitable cells such as neurons, cardiomyocytes, muscle fibers and pancreatic beta cells. It can also be applied to the study of bacterial ion channels in specially prepared giant spheroplasts. A spheroplast is a cell from which the cell wall has been almost completely removed (usually through the use of penicillin).

A glass micropipette is used as an electrode in patch clamp recording. The pipette has an open tip diameter of about one micrometer ( 1×10⁻⁶ of a meter). The size encloses a membrane surface or "patch" that contains very few ion channel molecules. This type of electrode is sealed onto the the surface of the cell membrane rather than inserting or impaling it with a sharp microelectrode.

Robot reveals the inner workings of brain cells

Gaining access to the inner workings of a neuron in the living brain offers a wealth of useful information: its patterns of electrical activity, its shape, even a profile of which genes are turned on at a given moment. However, achieving this entry is such a painstaking task that it is considered an art form; it is so difficult to learn that only a small number of labs in the world practice it.

But that could soon change: Researchers at MIT and the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a way to automate the process of finding and recording information from neurons in the living brain. The researchers have shown that a robotic arm guided by a cell-detecting computer algorithm can identify and record from neurons in the living mouse brain with better accuracy and speed than a human experimenter.

The new automated process eliminates the need for months of training and provides long-sought information about living cells' activities. Using this technique, scientists could classify the thousands of different types of cells in the brain, map how they connect to each other, and figure out how diseased cells differ from normal cells.

Physics Technology and Education Key Factor To Advances In Medical Sciences

Medical physics is the general application of physics concepts, theories and methods to the medical sciences and medicine. Clinical medical physicists are often found working in Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Oncology. However, areas of specialty are widely varied in scope and breadth e.g., clinical physiology, neurophysiology, and audiology. In the case of research based university departments, the scope is even wider and may include anything from the study of biomolecular structure to microscopy and nanomedicine.

The relation between physics and medicine dates back to the early period of medical history.

The application of physics has laid out the foundations for scientific exploration and understanding of the human body and its functions. Disciplines such as electrophysiology, biomechanics, and ophthalmology are the direct result of the application of physics to medical and physiological questions.

The increased use of radiation in medicine has led to a demand for physicists who could directly apply their expertise directly to the medical care of patients. This led to the birth of modern medical physics profession. The advances of medicine such as MRI, modern radiotherapy, and the CT Scan have roots from fundamental physics research. Without that foundation, these technologies would have been impossible.