Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have identified the molecular mechanisms at play for the non-additive wetting free energies at chemically heterogeneous surfaces.

The development of new methods that use engineered nanomaterials to transport drugs and release them directly into cells holds great potential in this area. And while several such drug-delivery systems have won approval for clinical use, they have been hampered by size limitations and ineffectiveness in accurately targeting tissues. Now, researchers at UCLA have developed a new and potentially far more effective means of targeted drug delivery using nanotechnology.

Researchers at National Nanotechnology Center (NANOTEC) in Bangkok have studied the application of niosomes for encapsulation of nisin and EDTA. Nisin (Food Additive, E234) are used as antimicrobial substance in food and pharmaceutical applications.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) in the UK has published a report of consumers' views on the use of nanotechnology in food and food packaging. The focus group research, which asked participants about their views on nanotechnology in late 2010 and early 2011, was carried out as part of the FSA's programme of work on nanotechnology.

FEI, a leading instrumentation company that provides microscopy systems for research and industry, today announces that it has shipped the 250th Helios NanoLab DualBeam system.

Nanotechnology researchers have known for years that RNA, the cousin of DNA, is a promising tool for nanotherapy, in which therapeutic agents can be delivered inside the body via nanoparticles. But the difficulties of producing long-lasting, therapeutic RNA that remains stable and non-toxic while entering targeted cells have posed challenges for their progress. Now, researchers detail successful methods of producing large RNA nanoparticles and testing their safety in the delivery of therapeutics to targeted cells.

An alliance of top researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, has formed the UC Berkeley Synthetic Biology Institute (SBI), advancing efforts to engineer cells and biological systems in ways that promise to transform technology in health and medicine, energy, the environment, new materials, and a host of other critical arenas.

A University of Arkansas physicist has received the largest award granted to an individual researcher from the Army Research Laboratory to search for a novel class of nanomaterials with rationally designed properties.

Molecular Profiles, a leading pharmaceutical development service provider, today announced that it has been awarded a Queen's Award for Enterprise 2011 in the Innovation category for its nanoPASS (nanoscale Predictive Analytical Screening Solution) service platform.

The tools of nanobiotechnology have wide-ranging commercial impact on fields that include pharma, medtech, textiles, agriculture, consumer products and many more. There are many hotbeds of nanobiotech innovation, and North Carolina has emerged as a leader in nanobiotech research, development and commercialization.

A collaboration between the Whitesides Group at Harvard University and CSM Instruments has culminated in an important advance in lithography of different materials at the nanoscale. The motivation for this development was the ability to produce unique lithographical patterns of different shapes and sizes for use in research applications (e.g. lab-on-a-chip) where conventional techniques such as electron-beam lithography (EBL) and photolithography cannot be used.

Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists have developed a way to avoid the use of expensive platinum in hydrogen fuel cells, the environmentally friendly devices that might replace current power sources in everything from personal data devices to automobiles.

Devices might be used in brain prostheses - or combined into massive network of synthetic neurons to create a synthetic brain

An agreement of cooperation with investment company Nanostart AG, winner of the open competitive tender* to manage venture capital fund Kama Fund First, was signed today by RUSNANO CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board Anatoly Chubais, Perm Krai Governor Oleg Chirkunov, and Nanostart CEO Marco Beckmann.

Yu Huang, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, and her research team have proposed and demonstrated a new approach to producing nanocrystals with predictable shapes by utilizing surfactants, biomolecules that can bind selectively to certain facets of the crystals' exposed surfaces.

A multidisciplinary team of investigators at Harvard and MIT have created a new device that can detect single cancer cells in a blood sample, potentially allowing doctors to quickly determine whether cancer has spread from its original site. The microfluidic device is about the size of a dime, and could also detect cancer-causing viruses such as hepatitis B and C and the human papilloma virus.

The effectiveness of optical imaging processes can be significantly improved with suitable dyes used as contrast agents. Now, researchers have introduced a novel contrast agent that marks tumor cells in vitro. The dye is a phosphorescent ruthenium complex incorporated into nanoparticles of a metal-organic coordination polymer, which allows an extraordinarily high level of dye loading.

Chemotherapy drug resistance contributes to treatment failure in more than 90 percent of metastatic cancers. Overcoming this hurdle would significantly improve cancer survival rates. Dean Ho, of Northwestern University, believes a tiny carbon particle called a nanodiamond may offer an effective drug delivery solution for hard-to-treat cancers.

A Purdue University biochemist has demonstrated a process using nanotechnology to better assess whether cancer drugs hit their targets, which may help reduce drug side effects.

Researchers have found theoretically that a regular lattice of Skyrmions, whose role in solid state systems such as ferromagnets has been attracting great interest, can form in a thin confined liquid crystal, a system completely different from solid state systems.