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

Researchers at MIT and collaborators have demonstrated that they can alter the magnetic properties of chromium trichloride – an ultra-thin material that features a honeycomb-shaped atomic structure — by shifting the stacking order of layers. The researchers peeled away two-dimensional (2-D) layers of chromium trichloride using and found that the magnetism is different in 2-D and 3-D crystals, due to different stacking arrangements between atoms in adjacent layers.

Chemical engineers at MIT have developed a new series of lipid nanoparticles to deliver RNA vaccines and have shown that the particles trigger efficient production of the protein encoded by the RNA. Also, the engineers used this RNA vaccine to successfully inhibit the growth of melanoma tumors in mice.

Chemical engineers at MIT have developed a new series of lipid nanoparticles to deliver RNA vaccines and have shown that the particles trigger efficient production of the protein encoded by the RNA. Also, the engineers used this RNA vaccine to successfully inhibit the growth of melanoma tumors in mice.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have used nanoparticles to test the mucus of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The researchers hope that their approach will allow for early detection of COPD progression and will therefore help clinicians to deliver therapies in a more timely manner.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have used nanoparticles to test the mucus of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The researchers hope that their approach will allow for early detection of COPD progression and will therefore help clinicians to deliver therapies in a more timely manner.

Scientists have used advanced imaging techniques that can measure and visualize in color the orientation of individual enamel nanocrystals in human teeth. They found that these crystals are not perfectly aligned, as had been previously thought, and that this misorientation likely deflects cracks, leading to enamel's lifelong strength.

Scientists have used advanced imaging techniques that can measure and visualize in color the orientation of individual enamel nanocrystals in human teeth. They found that these crystals are not perfectly aligned, as had been previously thought, and that this misorientation likely deflects cracks, leading to enamel's lifelong strength.

Michigan State University scientists have invented a new way to monitor chemotherapy concentrations. Too high a dose can result in killing healthy tissue and cells, triggering more side effects; too low a dose may stun, rather than kill, cancer cells, allowing them to come back. The new process is based around magnetic particle imaging that uses superparamagnetic nanoparticles as the contrast agent and the sole signal source to monitor drug release in the body at the site of the tumor.

Michigan State University scientists have invented a new way to monitor chemotherapy concentrations. Too high a dose can result in killing healthy tissue and cells, triggering more side effects; too low a dose may stun, rather than kill, cancer cells, allowing them to come back. The new process is based around magnetic particle imaging that uses superparamagnetic nanoparticles as the contrast agent and the sole signal source to monitor drug release in the body at the site of the tumor.

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists and seven other institutions, led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have identified critical gaps in the understanding of the nanoscale hydrodynamics, molecular sieving, fluidic structure, and thermodynamics of nanopores that are less than 10 nanometers in diameter. Filling these knowledge gaps could lead to new membranes for water purification, as well as new gas-permeable materials and energy storage devices.