Shining a light on DNA: a rapid, ultra-sensitive, PCR-free detection method

New light-powered DNA detection enables more accessible, affordable genetic analysis

23-Apr-2025 - PCR genetic analysis has been in the spotlight since COVID-19, but light is now further facilitating PCR-free methods.Osaka Metropolitan University scientists have developed a light-induced DNA detection technique, using heterogeneous probe particles, that enables ultra-sensitive and ultra-fast ...

Medically relevant nanoparticles move faster in cells than expected

Finding has large implications for applications in nanomedicine such as targeted drug delivery and intracellular studies

10-Jan-2024 - An experiment led by a team of DESY and Universität Hamburg scientists has discovered that gold nanoparticles can move through liquid biological matter faster than expected when coated by the polymer polyethylene glycol (PEG). The team’s data, which were acquired using X-ray photon correlation ...

Researchers develop a test that uses a cell phone to simply and quickly detect gluten in food

18-May-2022 - "Our prototype is designed to help control foods from the moment they are produced, in such a way that when they reach the table, they are one hundred percent safe for the consumer, which in this case, is people who suffer from celiac disease. Its main advantage is how easy it is to use and its ...

Energy transmission by gold nanoparticles coupled to DNA structures

Using DNA structures as scaffolds, Tim Liedl has shown that precisely positioned gold nanoparticles can serve as efficient energy transmitters

09-Apr-2021 - Since the inception of the field in 2006, laboratories around the world have been exploring the use of ‘DNA origami’ for the assembly of complex nanostructures. The method is based on DNA strands with defined sequences that interact via localized base pairing. “With the aid of short strands with ...

A clear path to better insights into biomolecules

3D images with record-breaking resolution

06-Jan-2021 - An international team of scientists, led by Kartik Ayyer from the MPSD, has obtained some of the sharpest possible 3D images of gold nanoparticles. The resuts lay the foundation for obtaining high resolution images of macromolecules. The study was carried out at the European XFEL’s Single ...

Fast, sensitive blood tests for use at home

03-Mar-2020 - They should be fast, portable and easy to use: blood tests that can be done at home. Having already come up with a prototype, ETH Pioneer Fellow Alexander Tanno is working with doctoral student Yves Blickenstorfer to bring the idea to market. The prototype that Alexander Tanno is holding between ...

Actively Swimming Gold Nanoparticles

Chemotactic movement on the macroscale by a swarm of bacteria-mimicking nanoswimmers

07-Aug-2019 - Bacteria can actively move towards a nutrient source—a phenomenon known as chemotaxis—and they can move collectively in a process known as swarming. Chinese scientists have redesigned collective chemotaxis by creating artificial model nanoswimmers from chemically and biochemically modified gold ...

Carrying and releasing nanoscale cargo with 'nanowrappers'

Nanocubes for biomedicine, catalysis and beyond

08-Jan-2019 - This holiday season, scientists at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)--a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory--have wrapped a box of a different kind. Using a one-step chemical synthesis method, they engineered hollow metallic ...

Cotton-based hybrid biofuel cell could power implantable medical devices

20-Nov-2018 - A glucose-powered biofuel cell that uses electrodes made from cotton fiber could someday help power implantable medical devices such as pacemakers and sensors. The new fuel cell, which provides twice as much power as conventional biofuel cells, could be paired with batteries or supercapacitors to ...

A golden ticket to faster muscle recovery

Gold nanoparticles with cytokines reduce inflammation and promote muscle fiber regeneration

04-Oct-2018 - Anyone who has ever torn or injured a muscle knows that swelling, redness, and pain soon follow the injury: classic signs of inflammation. Inflammation is the body’s natural response to promote healing, but prolonged, excess inflammation in the muscles can contribute to the progression of chronic ...