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

Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Columbia University, and Van Andel Institute have developed a platform for assembling nanosized material components, or "nano-objects," of very different types—inorganic or organic—into desired 3-D structures. Synthetic DNA frames were engineered in the shape of a cube, octahedron, and tetrahedron. Inside the frames are DNA "arms" that only nano-objects with the complementary DNA sequence can bind to. These material voxels—the integration of the DNA frame and nano-object—are the building blocks from which macroscale 3-D structures can be made.

Scientists led by Rice University engineers have created light-powered nanoparticles to produce synthesis gas (syngas), a valuable chemical feedstock used in making fuels and fertilizer. The nanoparticles, tiny spheres of copper dotted with single atoms of ruthenium, are the key component in a low-energy, low-temperature photocatalytic process that could slash the carbon footprint for a major segment of the chemical industry.

Scientists led by Rice University engineers have created light-powered nanoparticles to produce synthesis gas (syngas), a valuable chemical feedstock used in making fuels and fertilizer. The nanoparticles, tiny spheres of copper dotted with single atoms of ruthenium, are the key component in a low-energy, low-temperature photocatalytic process that could slash the carbon footprint for a major segment of the chemical industry.a

Biomedical and optics researchers at the University of Rochester are working to better understand the prevalence of microplastics in drinking water and their potential impacts on human health. They are collaborating with SiMPore, a company that uses nanomembrane technology, which was initially developed at the University, to devise ways to quickly filter and identify particles of plastic that are 5 millimeters or smaller in size in drinking water samples.

Biomedical and optics researchers at the University of Rochester are working to better understand the prevalence of microplastics in drinking water and their potential impacts on human health. They are collaborating with SiMPore, a company that uses nanomembrane technology, which was initially developed at the University, to devise ways to quickly filter and identify particles of plastic that are 5 millimeters or smaller in size in drinking water samples.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have demonstrated that a type of biodegradable, lab-engineered nanoparticle they fashioned can successfully deliver a "suicide gene" to pediatric brain tumor cells implanted in the brains of mice. The researchers found that a combination of the suicide gene and ganciclovir delivered by intraperitoneal injection to mice killed more than 65% of two types of pediatric brain tumor cells.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have demonstrated that a type of biodegradable, lab-engineered nanoparticle they fashioned can successfully deliver a "suicide gene" to pediatric brain tumor cells implanted in the brains of mice. The researchers found that a combination of the suicide gene and ganciclovir delivered by intraperitoneal injection to mice killed more than 65% of two types of pediatric brain tumor cells.

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found that a type of vaccine called a nucleoside-modified mRNA encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (mRNA-LNP) vaccine, which was developed at Penn, successfully protected young mice against infections in the presence of maternal antibodies. The study suggests that this protection occurred because the vaccine programs cells to constantly churn out new antigens for a prolonged period of time, rather than delivering a one-time shot of a viral protein.

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found that a type of vaccine called a nucleoside-modified mRNA encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (mRNA-LNP) vaccine, which was developed at Penn, successfully protected young mice against infections in the presence of maternal antibodies. The study suggests that this protection occurred because the vaccine programs cells to constantly churn out new antigens for a prolonged period of time, rather than delivering a one-time shot of a viral protein.

Researchers at Columbia University and the University of California San Diego have, for the first time, combined an optical nano-probe with magnetic nano-imaging to simultaneously examine electrical, magnetic, and optical properties of quantum materials.