nanomachine image from shutterstock

From 1966sThe Fantastic Voyageto Marvels upcomingAnt Man, weve spent decades entertaining ourselves with fantastical stories about sciences ability to make bigthings small, and small thingsextraordinary. Now, in a case of life imitating art, we may be poised on the cusp of a nano-revolutionthat breaks free from science fiction, and into the realm of science fact.

Writing in theAmerican Chemical SocietysACSNanoJournal, agroup of scientists from the University Of California, San Diegos Nanoengineering departmentannouncedthat, for the first time ever, they have successfully testeda series of orally-ingestedmicro-machineswhich self-propelinto the stomach liningof their living host a feat that, up until now, had only been accomplished on laboratory tissue samples.Explains the BBC:

The machines, made of polymer tubes coated with zinc, are just 20 micrometers long - the width of a strand of human hair.

In stomach acid, the zinc reacts to produce bubbles of hydrogen, which propel the machines into the lining of the stomach, where they attach.

As the machines dissolve, they deliver their cargoes into the stomach tissue.

Before you shudder at the ideaof an army of robots going to work in (and on)your stomach, keep in mind that the science has a ways to go before it reachesInnerspace-levels of sci-ficomplexity. Still,the development of edible, self-destructingnanites, capable of pin-point medicinalaccuracy inside a living body, representsa significant step towarda world where yourhealth isnt monitored and managedthroughwearable tech,but instead through ingestiblesmedical machinesworkinginsideyou, rather thanon your wrist.

Its a disquieting thought for some, but for doctors constantly on the lookoutfor new ways of effectively deliveringmedicine to where your body needs it most, this could very well be abreakthrough.

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Are These Self-Propelled Micro-Machines The Future Of Medicine?

There's tiny revolution afoot in medicine, where micro- and nano-sized robots will someday cruise around inside our bodies, zeroing in on cancerous cells or repairing damaged but otherwise healthy ones. But before those ideas all become reality, those bots need a power source inside our bodies. That power source could be stomach acid.

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego have created micro missiles that fire inside the stomachs of mice. As New Scientist reports, the 20 micrometer-long polymer tubes were coated in zinc, which reacts with stomach acid to form hydrogen bubbles. That gives it enough power to lodge into the stomach lining of mice, depositing its payload of gold nanoparticles. This is the first time a self-propelled machine has been tested in a living animal rather than cells in a petri dish.

The gold nanoparticles proved that the zinc-stomach acid system could be used to deliver chemicals straight into the stomach lining. And the "chemicals" we're interested in, of course, are drugs, especially ones that otherwise have to be injected through needles rather than swallowed.

The field of tiny robots in medicine has bloomed in recent years. There's DNA-based nanobots that essentially turn the cockroach they're injected inside into 8-bit computers. And microspiders that could crawl around repairing blood vessels. And magnetically controlled nanopropellors. The zinc-acid system obviously won't work in all these cases, but it is a promising step forward for tiny machines designed to work in the stomach. There's a lot of wild promises out there for nanobots in medicine, some that might even work. [New Scientist]

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This Ingestible Microbot Is Powered By Stomach Acid

January 19, 2015

Credit: Wei Gao et al./ACS Nano

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

For years, scientists have been working to develop simple miniscule machines that can travel inside the body to deliver medicine, but these experiments have mostly been carried out within cell samples.

Now, according to a new report, researchers at the University of California at San Diego have successfully tested these tiny machines inside the stomachs of laboratory mice.

The machines are made of tiny specially-designed polymer tubes covered in zinc that are about as long as the width of a human hair. When placed into a stomach, the zinc reacts with stomach acid to produce hydrogen gas that propels the tube into stomach lining, where it can deliver medication.

The study team said the tiny machines could be used to treat peptic ulcers and other gastrointestinal issues. They added that additional work might be necessary to further evaluate the performance and functionalities of various man-made micro-motors in living organisms.

This study represents the very first step toward such a goal, the team wrote in their report.

One of the first prominent instances of seriously discussing tiny micro-machines for medicinal purposes was in a lecture to the American Physical Society (APS) given by renowned physicist Richard Feynman in 1959.

Although it is a very wild idea, it would be interesting in surgery if you could swallow the surgeon, Feynman said. You put the mechanical surgeon inside the blood vessel and it goes into the heart and looks around. It finds out which valve is the faulty one and takes a little knife and slices it out.

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Nanobots travel inside animal for first time

The directors of three Kavli nanoscience institutes Paul Alivisatos, Paul McEuen, and Nai-Chang Yeh discuss what makes the nanoscale so important, the fields grand challenges, safety challenges, and their thoughts on funding, training and the future.

SOMETHING VERY SMALL has the potential to make some very big changes in our world.

Over the past decade, nanoscale materials and devices so small that hundreds could fit inside the diameter of a single strand of hair, have begun to show up in everything from golf clubs to targeted drug delivery systems and new types of optical and electronic devices. In the laboratory, researchers are demonstrating nanoscale devices that may hold the key to quantum computing, artificial photosynthesis, high-speed genomic analysis, and even invisibility cloaks.

In fact, nanosciences reach is so broad and so profound, it is often difficult to understand how its various strands are alike and different, and what we must do to nurture further innovation. The Inaugural Symposium of the new Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute (Kavli ENSI) at University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratoryseems a good time to step back and address some of those issues, as well as nanosciences future potential.

In 2013, the Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was founded. Its mission: to unravel the most intimate details of nature's energy secrets and harness them to build fundamentally new types of energy systems. On its inauguration, re-read the profile of Kavli ENSI announcing its establishment.

Kavli ENSI, which is dedicated to energy-related nanoscience research, is the fifth nanoscience institute funded by The Kavli Foundation. The other four, each with its own special focus, include:

In advance of the Kavli ENSI Inaugural Symposium, the directors of three Kavli nanoscience institutes discussed the future of nanoscience. They include:

The following is an edited transcript of a roundtable discussion. The participants have been provided the opportunity to amend or edit their remarks.

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Q&A: Alivisatos, Kavli directors explore future of nanoscience

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A new tool capable of carrying out simultaneous nano-sized measurements could soon lead to more innovative nanotech-based products and help boost the EU economy. Indeed the tool, developed by scientists cooperating through the EU-funded UNIVSEM project, has the potential to revolutionise research and development in a number of sectors, ranging from electronics and energy to biomedicine and consumer products.

Nanotechnology, which involves the manipulation of matter at the atomic and molecular scale, has led to new materials such as graphene and microscopic devices that include new surgical tools and medicines. Up until now however, nanotech R&D has been hampered by the fact that it has not been possible to achieve simultaneous information on 3D structure, chemical composition and surface properties.

This is what makes the UNIVSEM project, due for completion in March 2015, so innovative. By integrating different sensors capable of measuring these different aspects of nano-sized materials, EU scientists have created a single instrument that enables researchers to work much more efficiently. By providing clearer visual and other sensory information, the tool will help scientists to manipulate nano-sized particles with greater ease and help cut R&D costs for industry.

The project team began in April 2012 by developing a vacuum chamber capable of accommodating the complex sensory tools required. In parallel, they significantly improved the capabilities of each individual analytical technique. This means that users now need just one instrument to achieve key capabilities such as vision and chemical analysis.

Preliminary tests demonstrated that the achieved optical resolution of 360 nanometres (nm) far exceeds the original 500 nm target set out at the start of the project. This should be of significant interest to numerous sectors where cost-efficient but incredibly precise measurements are required, such as in the manufacture of nano-sized surgical tools and nano-medicines.

Electronics is another key area. For example, the UNIVSEM project could help scientists learn more about the properties of quasiparticles such as plasmons. Since plasmons can support much higher frequencies than today's silicon based chips, researchers believe they could be the future for optical connections on next-generation computer chips.

Plasmon research could also lead to the development of new lasers and molecular-imaging systems, and increase solar cell efficiencies due to their interaction with light. Another exciting area of nanotechnology concerns silver nanowires (AgNWs). These nanowires can form a transparent conductive network, and thus are a promising candidate for solar cell contacts or transparent layers in displays.

The next stage is the commercialisation of the instrument. The multi-modal tool is expected to spur nanotechnology development and enhanced quality control in numerous areas such as the development of third generation solar cells and create new opportunities in sectors that have until now not fully tapped into the potential of nanotechnology.

Explore further: Using nanoparticles to better protect industrial applications

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Providing a clearer picture of nanotechnology's full potential

Nanoparticles, extremely tiny particles measured in billionths of a meter, are increasingly everywhere, and especially in biomedical products. Their toxicity has been researched in general terms, but now a team of Israeli scientists has for the first time found that exposure nanoparticles (NPs) of silicon dioxide (SiO2) can play a major role in the development of cardiovascular diseases when the NP cross tissue and cellular barriers and also find their way into the circulatory system. Their study, published in the December issue of Environmental Toxicology.

The research team was comprised of scientists from the Technion Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Rambam Medical Center, and the Center of Excellence in Exposure Science and Environmental Health (TCEEH).

"Environmental exposure to nanoparticles is becoming unavoidable due to the rapid expansion of nanotechnology," says the study's lead author, Prof. Michael Aviram, of the Technion Faculty of Medicine, "This exposure may be especially chronic for those employed in research laboratories and in high tech industry where workers handle, manufacture, use and dispose of nanoparticles. Products that use silica-based nanoparticles for biomedical uses, such as various chips, drug or gene delivery and tracking, imaging, ultrasound therapy, and diagnostics, may also pose an increased cardiovascular risk for consumers as well."

In this study, researchers exposed cultured laboratory mouse cells resembling the arterial wall cells to NPs of silicon dioxide and investigated the effects. SiO2 NPs are toxic to and have significant adverse effects on macrophages. a type of white blood cell that take up lipids, leading to atherosclerotic lesion development and its consequent cardiovascular events, such as heart attack or stroke. Macrophages accumulation in the arterial wall under atherogenic conditions such as high cholesterol, triglycerides, oxidative stress -- are converted into lipids, or laden "foam cells" which, in turn, accelerate atherosclerosis development.

"Macrophage foam cells accumulation in the arterial wall are a key cell type in the development of atherosclerosis, which is an inflammatory disease" says co-author Dr. Lauren Petrick. "The aims of our study were to gain additional insight into the cardiovascular risk associated with silicon dioxide nanoparticle exposure and discover the mechanisms behind Si02's induced atherogenic effects on macrophages. We also wanted to use nanoparticles as a model for ultrafine particle (UFP) exposure as cardiovascular disease risk factors."

Both NPs and UFPs can be inhaled and induce negative biological effects. However, until this study, their effect on the development of atherosclerosis has been largely unknown. Here, researchers have discovered for the first time that the toxicity of silicon dioxide nanoparticles has a "significant and substantial effect on the accumulation of triglycerides in the macrophages," at all exposure concentrations analyzed, and that they also "increase oxidative stress and toxicity."

A recent update from the American Heart Association also suggested that "fine particles" in air pollution leads to elevated risk for cardiovascular diseases. However, more research was needed to examine the role of "ultrafine particles" (which are much smaller than "fine particles") on atherosclerosis development and cardiovascular risk.

"The number of nano-based consumer products has risen a thousand fold in recent years, with an estimated world market of $3 trillion by the year 2020," conclude the researchers. "This reality leads to increased human exposure and interaction of silica-based nanoparticles with biological systems. Because our research demonstrates a clear cardiovascular health risk associated with this trend, steps need to be taken to help ensure that potential health and environmental hazards are being addressed at the same time as the nanotechnology is being developed.

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The above story is based on materials provided by American Technion Society. The original article was written by Kevin Hattori. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Exposure to nanoparticles may threaten heart health

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Newswise Nanoparticles, extremely tiny particles measured in billionths of a meter, are increasingly everywhere, and especially in biomedical products. Their toxicity has been researched in general terms, but now a team of Israeli scientists has for the first time found that exposure nanoparticles (NPs) of silicon dioxide (SiO2) can play a major role in the development of cardiovascular diseases when the NP cross tissue and cellular barriers and also find their way into the circulatory system. Their study, published in the December issue of Environmental Toxicology, can be found on-line at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tox.22084/abstract.

The research team was comprised of scientists from the Technion Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Rambam Medical Center, and the Center of Excellence in Exposure Science and Environmental Health (TCEEH).

Environmental exposure to nanoparticles is becoming unavoidable due to the rapid expansion of nanotechnology, says the studys lead author, Prof. Michael Aviram, of the Technion Faculty of Medicine, This exposure may be especially chronic for those employed in research laboratories and in high tech industry where workers handle, manufacture, use and dispose of nanoparticles. Products that use silica-based nanoparticles for biomedical uses, such as various chips, drug or gene delivery and tracking, imaging, ultrasound therapy, and diagnostics, may also pose an increased cardiovascular risk for consumers as well.

In this study, researchers exposed cultured laboratory mouse cells resembling the arterial wall cells to NPs of silicon dioxide and investigated the effects. SiO2 NPs are toxic to and have significant adverse effects on macrophages. a type of white blood cell that take up lipids, leading to atherosclerotic lesion development and its consequent cardiovascular events, such as heart attack or stroke. Macrophages accumulation in the arterial wall under atherogenic conditions such as high cholesterol, triglycerides, oxidative stress - are converted into lipids, or laden "foam cells" which, in turn, accelerate atherosclerosis development.

Macrophage foam cells accumulation in the arterial wall are a key cell type in the development of atherosclerosis, which is an inflammatory disease says co-author Dr. Lauren Petrick. The aims of our study were to gain additional insight into the cardiovascular risk associated with silicon dioxide nanoparticle exposure and discover the mechanisms behind Si02s induced atherogenic effects on macrophages. We also wanted to use nanoparticles as a model for ultrafine particle (UFP) exposure as cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Both NPs and UFPs can be inhaled and induce negative biological effects. However, until this study, their effect on the development of atherosclerosis has been largely unknown. Here, researchers have discovered for the first time that the toxicity of silicon dioxide nanoparticles has a significant and substantial effect on the accumulation of triglycerides in the macrophages, at all exposure concentrations analyzed, and that they also increase oxidative stress and toxicity.

A recent update from the American Heart Association also suggested that fine particles in air pollution leads to elevated risk for cardiovascular diseases. However, more research was needed to examine the role of ultrafine particles (which are much smaller than fine particles) on atherosclerosis development and cardiovascular risk.

The number of nano-based consumer products has risen a thousand fold in recent years, with an estimated world market of $3 trillion by the year 2020, conclude the researchers. This reality leads to increased human exposure and interaction of silica-based nanoparticles with biological systems. Because our research demonstrates a clear cardiovascular health risk associated with this trend, steps need to be taken to help ensure that potential health and environmental hazards are being addressed at the same time as the nanotechnology is being developed.

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Research: Exposure to Nanoparticles May Threaten Heart Health

In a world-first achievement published in Nature, scientists from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science in Japan, along with colleagues from the National Institute of Material Science and the University of Tokyo, have developed a new hydrogel whose properties are dominated by electrostatic repulsion, rather than attractive interactions.

According to Yasuhiro Ishida, head of the Emergent Bioinspired Soft Matter Research Team, the work began from a surreptitious discovery, that when titanate nano-sheets are suspended in an aqueous colloidal dispersion, they align themselves face-to-face in a plane when subjected to a strong magnetic field. The field maximizes the electrostatic repulsion between them and entices them into a quasi-crystalline structure. They naturally orient themselves face to face, separated by the electrostatic forces between them.

To create the new material, the researchers used the newly discovered method to arrange layers of the sheets in a plane, and once the sheets were aligned in the plane, fixed the magnetically induced structural order by transforming the dispersion into a hydrogel using a procedure called light-triggered in-situ vinyl polymerization. Essentially, pulses of light are used to congeal the aqueous solution into a hydrogel, so that the sheets could no longer move.

By doing this, they created a material whose properties are dominated by electrostatic repulsion, the same force that makes our hair stand end when we touch a van generator.

Up to now, manmade materials have not taken advantage of this phenomenon, but nature has. Cartilage owes its ability to allow virtually frictionless mechanical motion within joints, even under high compression, to the electrostatic forces inside it. Electrostatic repulsive forces are used in various places, such as maglev trains, vehicle suspensions and noncontact bearings, but up to now, materials design has focused overwhelmingly on attractive interactions.

The resultant new material, which contains the first example of charged inorganic structures that align co-facially in a magnetic flux, has interesting properties. It easily deforms when shear forces are applied parallel to the embedded nano-sheets, but strongly resists compressive forces applied orthogonally.

According to Ishida, "This was a surprising discovery, but one that nature has already made use of. We anticipate that the concept of embedding anisotropic repulsive electrostatics within a composite material, based on inspiration from articular cartilage, will open new possibilities for developing soft materials with unusual functions. Materials of this kind could be used in the future in various areas from regenerative medicine to precise machine engineering, by allowing the creation of artificial cartilage, anti-vibration materials and other materials that require resistance to deformation in one plane."

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A repulsive material

In a world-first achievement published in Nature, scientists from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science in Japan, along with colleagues from the National Institute of Material Science and the University of Tokyo, have developed a new hydrogel whose properties are dominated by electrostatic repulsion, rather than attractive interactions.

According to Yasuhiro Ishida, head of the Emergent Bioinspired Soft Matter Research Team, the work began from a surreptitious discovery, that when titanate nano-sheets are suspended in an aqueous colloidal dispersion, they align themselves face-to-face in a plane when subjected to a strong magnetic field. The field maximizes the electrostatic repulsion between them and entices them into a quasi-crystalline structure. They naturally orient themselves face to face, separated by the electrostatic forces between them.

To create the new material, the researchers used the newly discovered method to arrange layers of the sheets in a plane, and once the sheets were aligned in the plane, fixed the magnetically induced structural order by transforming the dispersion into a hydrogel using a procedure called light-triggered in-situ vinyl polymerization. Essentially, pulses of light are used to congeal the aqueous solution into a hydrogel, so that the sheets could no longer move.

By doing this, they created a material whose properties are dominated by electrostatic repulsion, the same force that makes our hair stand end when we touch a van generator.

Up to now, humanmade materials have not taken advantage of this phenomenon, but nature has. Cartilage owes its ability to allow virtually frictionless mechanical motion within joints, even under high compression, to the electrostatic forces inside it. Electrostatic repulsive forces are used in various places, such as maglev trains, vehicle suspensions and noncontact bearings, but up to now, materials design has focused overwhelmingly on attractive interactions.

The resultant new material, which contains the first example of charged inorganic structures that align co-facially in a magnetic flux, has interesting properties. It easily deforms when shear forces are applied parallel to the embedded nano-sheets, but strongly resists compressive forces applied orthogonally.

According to Ishida, "This was a surprising discovery, but one that nature has already made use of. We anticipate that the concept of embedding anisotropic repulsive electrostatics within a composite material, based on inspiration from articular cartilage, will open new possibilities for developing soft materials with unusual functions. Materials of this kind could be used in the future in various areas from regenerative medicine to precise machine engineering, by allowing the creation of artificial cartilage, anti-vibration materials and other materials that require resistance to deformation in one plane."

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The above story is based on materials provided by RIKEN. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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A repulsive material: New hydrogel dominated by electrostatic repulsion

Kay Campbell with Hands On! pours vinegar on some baking soda for make a volcano during a Mad Scientists on Wheels Workshop at the Fletcher Library in September. Kids learned how different states of matter, liquid, solid and gas are formed.

Thanks to a state grant gained with help from local legislators, Hands On! A Child's Gallery is planning to expand its science programming in 2015 to encompass lessons ranging from the molecular level to the heights of flight.

Last August, state Sen. Tom Apodaca and Rep. Chuck McGrady worked to get Hands On! a $58,000 grant-in-aid within the 2014-15 state budget, part of $2.3 million appropriated to community programs by the N.C. Department of Commerce.

The funding has allowed the children's museum on Main Street to expand its family science nights, bring a program revolving around flight to a county park this summer and, for the first time, host a traveling exhibit focused on nanoscience the study of extremely small things.

It's all designed to enhance science, technology, engineering and math education in Western North Carolina and encourage kids to aspire to STEM-related careers while having fun, museum organizers said.

About 62 percent of currently available jobs in North Carolina require STEM skills, according to the N.C. Grassroots Science Museum Collaborative, yet only 21 percent of students graduate with those abilities. Hands On! was able to join the collaborative thanks to last year's budget bill.

Since we've been accepted as a grassroots museum, I've been able to sit at the table with organizations such as the Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh and Discovery Place in Charlotte, said Executive Director Heather Boeke. We're just thrilled our community is going to benefit from this partnership.

Hands On! has been bringing fun science activities into classrooms and libraries since it opened in 2007. The nonprofit museum has also hosted Nano Days each spring since 2012 to teach kids about ultra-tiny elements, using materials from the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network.

Nano science is part of our world today and we want everybody to understand it, said Beth Bockoven, education coordinator at Hands On! It's used in everything from heat-sensitive T-shirts that change color to our cellphones and sunscreen.

Last week, using a NISE mini-grant, the museum expanded its educational outreach to Mission Children's Hospital in Asheville. Two of the museum's fictional instructors, dubbed Dr. Beaker and Dr. Bunsen, brought lessons about nanoscience to kids who can't leave the hospital.

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Hands On! to expand science programming in 2015

Scientists at UCLA have created a lens-free microscope that relies on a silicon chip found in smartphones and digital cameras. You can't use it to snap a selfie, but it could help scientists detect cancer.

In a paper published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine, the research team shows that images taken with the lens-free microscope were just as capable of revealing cellular abnormalities in tissue samples as more traditional, and more expensive light microscopes.

"Our microscope provides the same level of quality as a state-of-the-art optical light microscope, and it has a significantly larger field of view, a simpler design, and it is more cost-effective," said Aydogan Ozcan, a professor of electrical engineering at UCLA and the senior author on the paper.

Ozcan's lab specializes in creatingcomputer codes that simplify the design of microscopes, nanoscopes and other instruments, and improve their performance.

His team recently created a device that turns a smartphone into a high-powered microscope capable of imaging individual DNA molecules. Another project turned Google Glass into a tool that can perform diagnostic tests on blood and tissue samples.

Like much of Ozcan's work, the design of the lens-free microscope borrows from existing technology.

"The bread and butter of this project is a CCD or CMOS imager, which is the same thin chip you find in every digital camera, whether it's a high-end SLR or a cellphone camera," he said.

The setup also requires a light source and a sample holder that keeps the slide hovering just a little above the chip. When the light shines down on the sample slide, the slide casts a shadow of the sample tissue onto the imaging chip.

You can get an idea of how this works by holding your hand above your desk and under a light source. The closer to the desk you put your hand, the more defined the shadow becomes. The shadow of your hand is solid, but because cells are translucent, their shadows are more detailed.

The shadow image the chip collects is a murky-looking holograph that bears little resemblance to what you would see if you looked at the same slide through a light microscope. After the image is captured, it is reconstructed with software developed by Ozcan's team that converts the messy patterns into an image that is at least as clear as what you would see through a traditional microscope.

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A lens-free microscope that borrows tech from your cellphone

Russia and America work together on a new nano-medicine to fight cancer
Russia Today. Technology Update. Russia and America work together on a new nano-medicine to fight cancer.

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Newswise LOUISVILLE, Ky. Two researchers at the University of Louisville today were named Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).

Suzanne T. Ildstad, M.D., director of UofLs Institute for Cellular Therapeutics, and Kevin M. Walsh, Ph.D., director of the Micro/Nano Technology Center, were among 170 new Fellows named. They will be inducted by Deputy U.S. Commissioner for Patent Operations Andy Faile of the United States Patent and Trademark Office during the 4th Annual Conference of the National Academy of Inventors on March 20, 2015, at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

As a premier metropolitan research university, UofL strives to develop ideas into discoveries, then to translate these into forms that benefit all, said UofL Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation William M. Pierce Jr., Ph.D. Drs. Ildstad and Walsh are two of our many brilliant and dedicated scholars who do this every day. We are very proud of them and their achievements.

Those named today bring the total number of NAI Fellows to 414, representing more than 150 prestigious research universities and governmental and non-profit research institutions.

Included among the NAI Fellows are 208 members of the other National Academies, 21 inductees of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, 16 recipients of the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation, 10 recipients of the U.S. National Medal of Science, 21 Nobel Laureates, 11 Lemelson-MIT prize recipients, 107 American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows, and 62 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Fellows, among other awards and distinctions.

To qualify for election, NAI Fellows must be academic inventors named on U.S. patents and nominated by their peers for outstanding contributions to innovation in areas such as patents and licensing, innovative discovery and technology, significant impact on society and support and enhancement of innovation.

About Suzanne Ildstad: Ildstad is the Jewish Hospital Distinguished Chair in Transplantation and professor in the Department of Surgery in the UofL School of Medicine. She also holds associate appointments in the schools Department of Physiology and Biophysics and Department of Microbiology and Immunology.

Ildstad has 20 patents related to her research and is the founding scientist of Regenerex LLC, a biotechnology company. Her research is being translated into the clinical arena with FDA approval to enroll patients in six different research protocols to treat autoimmune disease (multiple sclerosis) and red blood cell disorders (sickle cell anemia and thalassemia), inherited metabolic disorders and to induce tolerance to organ transplants (kidney).

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Two UofL Researchers Named Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors

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Newswise Its the most basic of ways to find out what something does, whether its an unmarked circuit breaker or an unidentified gene flip its switch and see what happens. New remote-control technology may offer biologists a powerful way to do this with cells and genes. A team at Rockefeller University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is developing a system that would make it possible to remotely control biological targets in living animals rapidly, without wires, implants or drugs.

Today (December 15) in the journal Nature Medicine, the team describes successfully using electromagnetic waves to turn on insulin production to lower blood sugar in diabetic mice. Their system couples a natural iron storage particle, ferritin, to activate an ion channel called TRPV1 such that when the metal particle is exposed to a radio wave or magnetic field it opens the channel, leading to the activation of an insulin producing gene. Together, the two proteins act as a nano-machine that can be used to trigger gene expression in cells.

The method allows one to wirelessly control the expression of genes in a living animal and could potentially be used for conditions like hemophilia to control the production of a missing protein. Two key attributes are that the system is genetically encoded and can activate cells remotely and quickly, says Jeffrey Friedman, Marilyn M. Simpson Professor head of the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics at Rockefeller. We are now exploring whether the method can also be used to control neural activity as a means for noninvasively modulating the activity of neural circuits. Friedman and his Rensselaer colleague Jonathan S. Dordick were co-senior researchers on the project.

Other techniques exist for remotely controlling the activity of cells or the expression of genes in living animals. But these have limitations. Systems that use light as an on/off signal require permanent implants or are only effective close to the skin, and those that rely on drugs can be slow to switch on and off.

The new system, dubbed radiogenetics, uses a signal, in this case low-frequency radio waves or a magnetic field, to heat or move ferritin particles. They, in turn, prompt the opening of TRPV1, which is situated in the membrane surrounding the cell. Calcium ions then travel through the channel, switching on a synthetic piece of DNA the scientists developed to turn on the production of a downstream gene, which in this study was the insulin gene.

In an earlier study, the researchers used only radio waves as the on signal, but in the current study, they also tested out a related signal a magnetic field to activate insulin production. They found it had a similar effect as the radio waves.

The use of a radiofrequency-driven magnetic field is a big advance in remote gene expression because it is non-invasive and easily adaptable, says Dordick, who is Howard P. Isermann Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and vice president of research at Rensselaer. You dont have to insert anything no wires, no light systems the genes are introduced through gene therapy. You could have a wearable device that provides a magnetic field to certain parts of the body and it might be used therapeutically for many diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases. Its limitless at this point.

The choice to look at insulin production was driven by the equipment they used to generate the radio waves and magnetic fields. Because the coil that generates these signals is currently small i.e; only three centimeters in diameter, it was necessary to anesthetize the mice to keep them still. Since anesthesia can repress the production of insulin, the hormone that reduces blood sugar, Stanley and her colleagues designed the genetically encoded system to replace the insulin that is normally reduced by anesthesia in mice.

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'Radiogenetics' Seeks to Remotely Control Cells and Genes

BENGALURU: To encourage the nanotechnology industry in the state, Karnataka government plans to set up a state-of-the-art Nano Park here, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said today.

"We are planning to establish a state-of-the-art Nano Park in Bengaluru. I am sure this initiative will give a major fillip to the nanotechnology industry to blossom in the state in coming years," he said at the inauguration of the seventh " Bengaluru India Nano 2014", an annual event, here.

The park will have Nano Incubation Centre along with necessary physical infrastructure and support systems including common facilities, he said.

The government is establishing Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences in the city with Centre's financial support under Nano Mission, for which Karnataka has already allocated 14 acres of land on Tumkur road, Siddaramaiah said.

"I request kind intervention of Bharat Ratna and Professor C N R Rao in moving the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, to hasten its development work," he said.

The Vision Group on Nanotechnology headed by Professor Rao is doing commendable work in recommending initiatives for the growth and development of Nano Science and Technology in the state, Siddaramaiah said.

The government has enhanced budgetary support from the current financial year for schemes and programmes recommended by the Vision Group on Science and Technology, he said.

Siddaramaiah called upon scientists to come up with tangible nanotechnology-based solutions for food security, energy security, water purification, medicine, healthcare and waste management.

"The ultimate purpose of all science and research should be to address the huge challenges faced by the common man in these areas," he said.

Given the enabling nature of nanotechnology and its ability to converge with other technologies, it has the potential to address key development related challenges in diverse sectors like energy, water, agriculture, health and environment, Siddaramaiah said.

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Karnataka government mulls setting up Nano Park in Bengaluru

23 hours ago Highly specific nanoparticles, that were produced at the University of Jena. Credit: Jan-Peter Kasper/FSU Jena

Jena scientists have been successful in producing highly specific nanoparticles. Depending on the bound dye the particles are guided to the liver or to the kidney and deliver their payload of active ingredients directly to the targeted tissue. Moreover, the dyes enable the tracking of the transport processes by intravital microscopy or, in a non-invasive way, by multi spectral optoacoustic tomography. The reduction of cholesterol production induced by siRNA served as the proof-of-principle for the developed method. The scientists report their data in the new edition of the scientific journal Nature Communications.

They are one of the great hopes for target-oriented treatment approaches: the so-called small interfering RNA-molecules, siRNA. These are able to mute specific genes, by preventing them from producing proteins which are encoded on them. To accomplish this, the siRNA has to be delivered specifically into the targeted cells in order to work only there and nowhere else. Moreover, the siRNA should not be just excreted or, even worse, damage healthy tissue. This is what makes the handling of siRNA extremely difficult. Physicians and chemists from Jena, Munich (both Germany) and the USA have now succeeded in producing nano-transporters for this genetic material which are able to specifically and efficiently target selected cell types and release their active payload there.

Fluorescent dyes are both address labels and tracking numbers all in one

The particles which are based on polymers are marked with near infrared fluorescent dyes and loaded with siRNA. The dyes work like address labels and tracking numbers for the particles all in one. "Depending on the chemical structure of the dye the particles are filtered out of the blood either via the kidney tissue or via liver cells. At the same time this route can easily be tracked by optical methods with the aid of the dyes," says intensive care physician Prof. Dr. Michael Bauer. His research team at the Jena University Hospital Centre for Sepsis Control and Care (CSCC), which is supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, was also able to show that the dye is specifically absorbed by a specific cellular transporter of the liver epithelial cells and taken up into the cells.

Toolbox for nanomedicine

In this way the siRNA load is exclusively released in the target cells. The specifically functionalized nano-containers have been designed and produced in the laboratories of the Jena Center for Soft Matter (JCSM) of the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena. "This method can be regarded as a kind of toolbox for a multitude of different siRNA-nanotransporters which can ensure the targeted ,switchoff' of specific protein biosynthesis in different cell types," the Director of the JCSM, Prof. Dr. Ulrich S. Schubert, states. With the possibility to test the non-coupled dyes in advance and to switch off genes which are associated with illnesses, the principle offers new approaches to a personalized therapy of various diseases. In the newly founded SmartDyeLivery GmbH, the Jena scientists want to further develop the technology to put it into practical use in the clinical environment, especially in cases of acute septic infections.

The Jena nanomedicine researchers explain in their study the working principle of their toolbox using the example of cholesterol production. They loaded the nanoparticles with targeting dyes attached with siRNA-molecules. The siRNA molecules interfered with cholesterol production in hepatocytes, which resulted a clear reduction in the cholesterol level in the blood of test animals. The study is now published in the scientific journal "Nature Communications."

Explore further: Novel RNAi-based therapy for anemia stimulates liver to produce EPO

More information: A. T. Press, A. Traeger, C. Pietsch, A. Mosig, M. Wagner, M. G. Clemens, N. Jbeily, N. Koch, M. Gottschaldt, N. Bzire, V. Ermolayev, V. Ntziachristos, J. Popp, M. Kessels, B. Qualmann, U. S. Schubert, M. Bauer: "Cell type-specific delivery of short interfering RNAs by dye-functionalized 'theranostic' nanoparticles", Nat. Commun. 2014, DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6565

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Colorful nano-guides to the liver

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

24-Nov-2014

Contact: Judy Lowry jhlowry@usf.edu 813-974-3181 University of South Florida (USF Innovation)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 24, 2014) - Five faculty members from the University of South Florida in Tampa have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

This year, 401 members from 196 universities and organizations have been awarded this honor by AAAS because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.

New Fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue (representing science and engineering, respectively) rosette pin on Feb. 14, 2015, from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2015 AAAS Annual Meeting in San Jose, Cal.

Top ranked organizations

With five Fellows, USF is ranked 4th worldwide for organizations with the most AAAS Fellows named this year, tied with Boston University, Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Chicago, University of Florida, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Tennessee Knoxville and University of Texas at Austin.

Other top ranked organizations include Vanderbilt University in first place with 11 Fellows; Emory University, University of Michigan, Pennsylvania State University and University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, all tied for second place with eight Fellows each. Tied for third place with six Fellows each are the University of California, Davis, The Ohio State University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Cornell University, University of Maryland and University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

"The University of South Florida is proud of these outstanding faculty members," said Dr. Paul R. Sanberg, AAAS Fellow and senior vice president for research and innovation at USF. "Their dedication to furthering knowledge and discovery within their fields continues to make USF successful as a global research university."

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AAAS and University of South Florida announce 2014 Fellows

Ultra-short and extremely strong X-ray flashes, as produced by free-electron lasers, are opening the door to a hitherto unknown world. Scientists are using these flashes to take "snapshots" of the geometry of tiniest structures, for example the arrangement of atoms in molecules. To improve not only spatial but also temporal resolution further requires knowledge about the precise duration and intensity of the X-ray flashes. An international team of scientists has now tackled this challenge.

X-ray flashes are a unique scientific tool. They are generated by accelerating electrons to very high energy levels in kilometer-long vacuum tubes, so-called linear accelerators, and then deflecting them with specially arranged magnets. In the process the particles emit X-ray radiation that is amplified until an ultra-short and intensive X-ray flash is released.

Researchers use these X-ray flashes to resolve structures as small as one ten billionth of a meter (0.1 nanometer) in size. That is roughly the diameter of a hydrogen atom. In this way, biomolecules, for example, can be imaged at extremely high resolution, providing new insight into the nano cosmos of nature.

Using two quickly sequenced flashes the researchers can even obtain information on structural changes during reactions. The first laser flash triggers a reaction while the second measures structural changes during the reaction. For this it is essential to know the precise duration and temporal intensity distribution of the X-ray flashes. However, hitherto it has not been possible to measure the ultra-short pulses directly.

Researchers at the Technische Universitt Mnchen (TUM), the Hamburg Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) and the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ) in Garching, in collaboration with other colleagues, have now developed just such a methodology. The respective experiments were done at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California (USA) by a team headed by Professor Reinhard Kienberger, Dr. Wolfram Helml (TUM) and Dr. Andreas Maier (CFEL).

The scientists determined the duration of the X-ray flashes by modifying a process originally developed to measure ultra-short flashes of light. The physicists directed the X-ray flashes into a vacuum chamber filled with a few atoms of an inert gas. There they superimposed the flashes with 2.4 micrometer wavelength pulses of infrared light.

When the X-ray flashes hit a gas atom they knock electrons out of the innermost shell, setting them free. After being liberated the electrons are accelerated or decelerated by the electrical field of the infrared light pulse. The change in an electron's velocity is a function of when the light intercepts the electron, and thus of the electrical field strength at the moment of ionization.

Since electrons are set free during the full duration of an X-ray flash, electrons emitted at different points in time "feel" different field strengths of the periodically oscillating infrared light. As a result they are accelerated at varying rates. The physicists can then calculate the duration of the original X-ray flash from the different arrival times of the electrons in a detector.

Using this approach, the researchers determined that the average pulse duration doesn't exceed four and a half femtoseconds -- a femtosecond is a millionth of a billionth of a second (10-15 seconds). In addition, the researchers obtained insight into the structure of the X-ray flashes.

A characteristic of the intense X-ray flashes generated in free-electron lasers is their randomly changing pulse form. A typical X-ray pulse comprises multiple contiguous shorter "X-ray spikes." The number and intensity of these spikes varies from one shot to the next.

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Ultra-short X-ray pulses explore the nano world

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35 ORLANDO) - Osceola County is building a new research and development hub, which will take cutting edge technologies to amazing new levels. The $75Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center near Kissimmee will develop advanced smart sensors and photonics devices.

"It could enable a whole new world of photonics technologies," says Dan Holladay, who is leading the effort.

Holladay says those smart sensors will become the backbone for the "Internet of Things" -- some 50 billion gadgets and appliances, all communicating with each other to make our lives more convenient.

Holladay adds, "Over the last nine months or year, the Internet of Things has really gone viral and this is really a huge enabler of the advanced Internet of Things."

The center will also work to create smart sensors for manufacturing, the energy sector, aerospace, defense and healthcare companies.

"Nano and semi-conductor based technologies, which is what we are working on, are going to change healthcare in the future," he says.

Holladay says companies from around the world will work together at his R&D hub to develop microelectronics to detect and treat cancers and other diseases.

He points out, "You could be able to sample blood and be able to really detect diseases now. You could tell whether or not treatments are working properly. You could test DNA in matters of minutes and a few hundred dollars."

Holladay hopes these nano technologies will be ready to use for advanced medical care within three to five years.

"Especially if you get a manufacturing development facility locked into place where you can really accelerate the commercialization of these technologies."

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Osceola research center to develop smart sensors, tech tools for advanced medicine

Nano cap InVivo Therapeutics (OTCQB:NVIV) continued its up move today with shares rising38%on a 10x surge in volume. Prices have almost tripled in a month as investor interest builds over its Neuro-Spinal Scaffold for the treatment of acute spinal cord injury. The first patient to receive the device is a 25-year old Scottsdale, AZ man who broke his back in a dirt bike accident last month. Although it's too early to gauge the success of the implant some researchers and clinicians believe it has great promise. In late October, the FDA approved an expansion of clinical trial sites from six to 20 and broadened patient eligibility criteria. After today's action, InVivo's market cap is $133M which is comparable to other regenerative medicine firms working on spinal cord injury therapies. For comparison purposes, the market valuations of Neuralstem (NYSEMKT:CUR), Asterias Biotherapeutics (NYSEMKT:AST) and StemCells (NASDAQ:STEM) are $256M, $125M and $80M, respectively. Share this with a colleague

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InVivo Therapeutics