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Projects/Programs

Displaying 1 - 14 of 14

Controlling Microfluidic Cell Cultures

Completed
Intended impact: Cell behavior is powerfully modulated by local extracellular cues. However, the number of parameters that affect cell behavior is large, and include soluble signaling molecules, dissolved gases, the chemistry and mechanics of the extracellular matrix, and the proximity and behavior

DNA Origami for Precise Manufacturing of Nanoscale Structures

Completed
The base pairing of adenine to thymine and guanine to cytosine to form DNA provides a robust molecular recognition scheme that can be used to create a wide variety of well-ordered nanostructures. DNA origami, which uses a long scaffold strand folded together by specific sets of short staple strands

Fundamental Interaction Mechanisms of Engineered Nanomaterials with DNA

Completed
Intended impact Nanotechnology research has resulted in the rapid creation of engineered nanomaterials with many foreseeable applications in medical imaging/diagnosis and in drug delivery. However, there is a notable scarcity of both acute and chronic human toxicity data for these new materials

Measurements for minimal cells

Ongoing
Minimal cells are cells whose genome has been stripped of all but those genes essential for replication, in a process called "genome minimization." NIST and collaborators demonstrated genome minimization coupled to single cell imaging as a powerful approach to investigate the minimal genetic

Metrologies for Nanobiomaterials in Artificial Photosynthesis

Completed
A transition to solar fuel will require high-efficiency catalysts that make use of domestic fuel feedstocks with minimal additional energy input. In the past several years, novel water oxidation catalysts from abundant elements have been reported. Catalysts deposited onto a photoactive substrate

Micro- and Nanoelectromechanical Systems

Completed
MEMS/NEMS are enabling technologies that bring new functionalities with the potential to radically transform markets ranging from consumer products to national defense. The meteoric rise of the smartphone is an excellent example, in which MEMS accelerometers, gyroscopes, microphones, displays, and

Molecular Physiology

Ongoing
In close collaboration with experimentalists, we are seeking to increase the resolution, scope, and throughput of single-biomolecule and ensemble techniques, such as nanopore-based biomolecular analysis, ultrafast vibrational spectroscopy, and FRET, among others. These developments rely heavily on

Nano-biophotonics for molecular imaging

Ongoing
Nano-biophotonics consists of four broad areas: molecular bioimaging; nano-biosensors; multiplexed bioassays ; and nanotechnology-based medical practices for diagnosis and therapy. Success in these areas is challenged by the underlying complexity of biological systems. Major levels of complexity and

Sensing, Transport, and Simulation

Ongoing
We have recently developed a finite-size scaling approach and special simulation cell aspect ratio—the golden aspect ratio—to enable accurate incorporation of access resistant and bulk diffusion in ionic transport, see the figure. This enables quantitative, and efficient, prediction of ion transport

Single-molecule biosensors

Ongoing
We are developing new tools to investigate the energy landscape of single-molecule sensors. Our goal is to apply a wide-ranging array of technologies to probe the critical physicochemical properties of nanopore biosensors. These properties include the free energy of confinement for polymers as they