Biotechnology & Medical News

1. Nanoscale Machines Convert Light Into Work 10/8/2020

   Researchers have developed a tiny new machine that converts laser light into work. These optically powered machines self-assemble and could be used for nanoscale manipulation of tiny cargo for applications such as nanofluidics and particle sorting.

2. Not Just Light: The Sensitivity Of Photoreceptors To Mechanical Stimuli Is Unveiled 7/27/2020

   “We thought we knew almost everything about photoreceptors, but we have proved that is not the case.” With these words, Vincent Torre, Professor of neurobiology of SISSA – Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, comments the results of a new study that, thanks to a multidisciplinary approach and to the use of optical tweezers, reveals for the first time the sensitivity of nerve cells present on the retina to mechanical stimuli and opens up new questions on how they function.

3. Trapping Tiny Particles: A Versatile Tool For Nanomanipulation 7/27/2020

   Nanoparticles are tiny. At just 1/1000th of a millimeter, they’re impossible to see with the naked eye. But, despite being small, they’re extremely important in many ways. If scientists want to take a close look at DNA, proteins, or viruses, then being able to isolate and monitor nanoparticles is essential.

4. Russian Scientists Find A Method To Significantly Increase The Range And Stability Of Optical Tweezers 7/23/2020

   Scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University jointly with a team of the V.E. Zuev Institute of Atmospheric Optics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences have discovered a method to increase the operation range of optical traps also known as optical tweezers.

5. Photonic Crystal Light Converter 7/22/2020

   Spectroscopy is the use of light to analyze physical objects and biological samples. Different kinds of light can provide different kinds of information. Vacuum ultraviolet light is useful as it can aid people in a broad range of research fields, but generation of that light has been difficult and expensive.

6. The Smallest Micro-Gripper, Grown On Optical Fibers, Is Operated Remotely With Light 7/15/2020

   Researchers at the Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, used the liquid crystal elastomer technology to demonstrate a series of micro-tools grown on optical fibers.

7. Limitations Of Super-Resolution Microscopy Overcome 7/7/2020

   With high-resolution microscopy, it is theoretically possible to image cell structures with a resolution of a few nanometres. However, this has not yet been possible in practice.

8. Electronification’s Impact On Medical Device Manufacturers 9/24/2018

   Rising demand for electronic components -- driven by the automotive, defense, aerospace, and industrial manufacturing industries -- could create supply challenges like price volatility, counterfeiting, relabeling, selling out-of-date parts, and double- or triple-booking orders

9. X-Ray Laser Opens New View On Alzheimer Proteins 5/9/2018

   A new experimental method permits the X-ray analysis of amyloids, a class of large, filamentous biomolecules which are an important hallmark of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. An international team of researchers headed by DESY scientists has used a powerful X-ray laser to gain insights into the structure of different amyloid samples.

10. Scientists Develop Sugar-Coated Nanosheets To Selectively Target Pathogens 3/29/2018

    Researchers have developed a process for creating ultrathin, self-assembling sheets of synthetic materials that can function like designer flypaper in selectively binding with viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens.