Tag Archive for 'nanotubes'

MIT Battling Cancer Cells With DNA-coated Nanotubes!

jackson published on December 16, 2008 in technology and zeitgeist. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

At MIT researchers have figured out a way to coat carbon nanotubes with bespoke DNA strands. The DNA-coated ‘tubes react differently when they make contact with healthy or cancerous cells, allowing doctors to determine if the chemotherapy is being effective.

So, a minute chunk of basic carbon, mated with a minute chunk of basic human = cancer fighting detecto-bot.

What a miraculous union of humanity and technology!

“We’ve made a sensor that can be placed in living cells, healthy or malignant, and actually detect several different classes of molecules that damage DNA,” said Michael Strano, associate professor of chemical engineering at MIT.”

Science! Epic win!

Here is an article from computerworld with more intel.

Bugs Make Nano!

jackson published on December 8, 2007 in celebrity and technology. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .


From Slashdot:

“”Engineers at the University of California, Riverside have found semiconducting nanotubes produced by living bacteria — a discovery that could help in the creation of a new generation of nanoelectronic devices. This is the first time nanotubes have been shown to be produced by biological rather than chemical means. In a process that is not yet fully understood, the bacterium secretes polysacarides that seem to produce the template for the arsenic-sulfide nanotubes. These nanotubes behave as metals with electrical and photoconductive properties useful in nanoelectronics.”

This is like finding a cow that pooped iPhones.

Go Science!