Breakthrough in nanodevice synthesis revolutionizes biological sensors

A novel approach to synthesizing nanowires (NWs) allows their direct integration with microelectronic systems for the first time, as well as their ability to act as highly sensitive biomolecule detectors that could revolutionize biological diagnostic applications, according to a report in Nature. "We electronically plugged into the biochemical system of cells," said senior author Mark Reed, Harold Hodgkinson Professor of Engineering & Applied Science. "These developments have profound implications both for application of nanoscience technologies and for the speed and sensitivity they bring to the future of diagnostics." An interdisciplinary team of engineers in the Yale Institute for Nanoscience and Quantum Engineering has overcome hurdles in NW synthesis by using a tried-and-true process of wet-etch lithography on commercially available silicon-on-insulator wafers. These NWs are structurally stable and demonstrate an unprecedented sensitivity as sensors for detection of antibodies and other biologically important molecules. According to Reed, not only can the NWs detect extremely minute concentrations (as few as 1000 individual molecules in a cubic millimeter), they can do it without the hazard or inconvenience of any added fluorescent or radioactive detection probes. The study demonstrated ability of the NWs to monitor antibody binding, and to sense real-time live cellular immune response using T-lymphocyte activation as a model. Within approximately 10 seconds, the NW could register T-cell activation as the release acid to the device. The basis for the sensors is the detection of... Whole article: "http://www.physorg.com":[ http://www.physorg.com/news89472443.html]

---