Nanotechnology provides A variety of options to lead to biology. Below I'll existing illustrations where nanofabrication – the ability to make confined structures with dimensions at will – is utilised to look at the biophysics of one molecules and cells. I'll current some illustrations from our lab:
Our group studies bacterial mobile division and is also aiming to constitute a ‘base up biology’ in synthetic cells that will autonomously divide. Our primary desire lies in mobile division, chromatin construction, and spatial Manage.
Back again in 1991, Sumio Iijima of the NEC Corporation experienced reported the synthesis of carbon nanotubes. Band structure calculations suggested that these nanotubes could exhibit metallic band conduction. This would be a significant advantage over the conducting polymers we had explored, which were, in fact, disordered semiconductors offering merely variable-range hopping conductivity.
Our perform was swiftly followed up by Other folks, most notably by Phaedon Avouris and colleagues at IBM, who in October 1998 revealed their results on transistors made out of solitary- and multi-walled carbon nanotubes in Utilized Physics Letters.
This yielded a breakthrough. Inside of only some months, we have been able to evaluate transportation by means of an individual solitary-walled carbon nanotube. Based on lower-temperature experiments by a brilliant PhD college student in my team, Sander Tans (now a valued colleague and professor at Delft University of Technological know-how using an Lively study lab at AMOLF in Amsterdam), we confirmed that carbon nanotubes were real quantum wires with pretty prolonged (micrometres) Digital coherence lengths — confirming theoretical predictions of metallic behaviour.
SMC complexes can move physical roadblocks larger than their ring sizing, indicating a nontopological system for DNA loop extrusion
We use nanofabricated microfluidic constructions to pattern spatial boundaries for microbes and biomimetic vesicles with reconstituted protein networks which evaluate the basic part of spatial confinement on the molecular and cellular level. Our projects include the subsequent:
Nanopores stand for a sublime and multipurpose Software to evaluate one molecules. We investigate novel detection modes with solid-point out nanopores and many ways to evaluate proteins with nanopores. Initiatives encompass the subsequent:
The rotors harness Strength from a nanoscale h2o and ion circulation which is created by a static chemical or electrochemical probable gradient while in the nanopore, that are established by way of a salt gradient or applied voltage, respectively. These synthetic nanoengines self-organize and work autonomously in physiological problems, suggesting approaches to constructing Electricity-transducing motors at nanoscale interfaces.
There was a single dilemma while — we didn't notice any measurable electrical conduction from The only polymer molecules. We concluded that at The only-molecule stage, conducting polymers ended up essentially not these terrific conductors, which was ceesdekker.net rather disappointing. We thus broadened our see to try to discover a lot more promising molecules.
FtsZ treadmilling is essential for Z-ring condensation and septal constriction initiation in bacterial cell division
2006, first demonstration of molecular sorting within a lab over a chip using biomotors; discovery of nanobubbles in sound-condition nanopores; and initially estimate of electrokinetic energy conversion within a nanofluidic channel
2008, initial observation of protein-coated DNA translocation via nanopores; resolved the origin from the electrophoretic force on DNA in nanopores; discovered a significant velocity maximize of microtubules in electric powered fields; learned an anomalous electro-hydrodynamic orientation of microtubules; and solved the origin of sound in carbon nanotubes in liquid
Dekker heeft fundamentele ontdekkingen gedaan op het gebied van koolstof nanobuisjes. Mede vanwege deze werkzaamheden is hij al jaren de meest geciteerde fysicus in Nederland. Tegenwoordig onderzoekt hij met enkel-molecuultechnieken de biofysica van moleculen in de biologische cel. Dekker is naast zijn wetenschappelijk werk ook bekend vanwege zijn belangstelling voor de relatie tussen geloof en wetenschap en de discussie rond smart style and design in 2005. (nl)