News from the NNI Community - Research Advances Funded by Agencies Participating in the NNI

Date Published
(Funded by the National Science Foundation)

Researchers at Cornell University have used an ultrathin graphene “sandwich” to create a tiny magnetic field sensor that can operate over a greater temperature range than previous sensors, while also detecting miniscule changes in magnetic fields that might otherwise get lost within a larger magnetic background. 

(Funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Defense)

Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle have demonstrated a new way to precisely target cells by distinguishing them from neighboring cells that look quite similar. The researchers have designed new nanoscale devices made of synthetic proteins that target a therapeutic agent only to cells with specific, predetermined combinations of cell surface markers.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Defense)

Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle have demonstrated a new way to precisely target cells by distinguishing them from neighboring cells that look quite similar. The researchers have designed new nanoscale devices made of synthetic proteins that target a therapeutic agent only to cells with specific, predetermined combinations of cell surface markers.

(Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation)

Researchers at Cornell University have discovered a way to bind and stack nanoscale clusters of copper molecules that can self-assemble and mimic these complex biosystem structures at different length scales. The clusters provide a platform for developing new catalytic properties that extend beyond what traditional materials can offer.

(Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation)

Researchers at Cornell University have discovered a way to bind and stack nanoscale clusters of copper molecules that can self-assemble and mimic these complex biosystem structures at different length scales. The clusters provide a platform for developing new catalytic properties that extend beyond what traditional materials can offer.

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health)

Scientists have demonstrated that lipid-based nanoparticles carrying two sets of protein-making instructions have the potential to function as therapies for two genetic disorders. In one experiment, the payload-containing nanoparticles prompted the production of the missing clotting protein in mice that were models for hemophilia. In another test, the nanoparticles' cargo reduced the activation level of a gene that, when overactive, interferes with clearance of cholesterol from the bloodstream.

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health)

Scientists have demonstrated that lipid-based nanoparticles carrying two sets of protein-making instructions have the potential to function as therapies for two genetic disorders. In one experiment, the payload-containing nanoparticles prompted the production of the missing clotting protein in mice that were models for hemophilia. In another test, the nanoparticles' cargo reduced the activation level of a gene that, when overactive, interferes with clearance of cholesterol from the bloodstream.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy)

Researchers at Washington State University have made a first step in economically converting plant materials to fuels. One big hurdle is that oxygen has to be removed from the plant materials before they can be used. Iron-based catalysts show promise for removing oxygen, but the iron also oxidizes, or rusts, during the reaction, and then the reaction stops. The researchers discovered that one way around this issue is to get the iron to remove the oxygen from the plant materials without taking up so much oxygen that the reaction stops. This was achieved with an iron-based catalyst surrounded by a thin layer of graphene.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy)

Researchers at Washington State University have made a first step in economically converting plant materials to fuels. One big hurdle is that oxygen has to be removed from the plant materials before they can be used. Iron-based catalysts show promise for removing oxygen, but the iron also oxidizes, or rusts, during the reaction, and then the reaction stops. The researchers discovered that one way around this issue is to get the iron to remove the oxygen from the plant materials without taking up so much oxygen that the reaction stops. This was achieved with an iron-based catalyst surrounded by a thin layer of graphene.

(Funded in part by the U.S. Department of Defense)

A research team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), DESY (German Electron Synchrotron, in Hamburg), and the University of Hamburg has, for the first time, succeeded in building nanoscale integrated electronic circuits that can capture light with the help of tiny antennas and determine the absolute phase of the light wave.