Tutorials in Nanotechnology: Focus on Sensors. Nanopores for proteins : Nature Methods. Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) :: Electrophysiological methods and devices for the activity measurement of membrane proteins Translocation of ions and charged molecules across biological membranes are sensitively measured using electrophysiological instruments. In principle, an electrical potential is applied across a lipid bilayer membrane and, if ion channels are open or membrane transporters active, the resulting currents are measured.
Membrane resistance in the Giga-Ohm range of lipid bilayers suspended in micro- or nanopores of the supporting material can be achieved, a prerequisite for sensitive measurements. Using impedance spectroscopy, the sealing resistance and the total capacitances of the bilayers and the supporting material are determined. As in patch-clamp measurements (see insert), voltage pulses can be applied to planar lipid bilayers and opening of ion channels determined as intermediate currents of some pico Ampères. Instrumentation Instrumental setup for ion channel recording Materials Pore generation. Custom IC Boosts Speed of Nanopore Measurements in DNA Sequencing. In the march toward inexpensive DNA sequencing, so-called “nanopore sequencing” has shown itself to be a promising technology.
However, there has been one major drawback with the nanopore solution: The weakness of the signals generated from the nanopores when the DNA passes through them. To compensate for this, researchers have mainly tried to slow the DNA as it moves through the nanopores. Late last year, IEEE Spectrum reported on research coming from a Harvard team that was taking a different approach. Instead of trying to slow down the DNA, the team, which is part of chemistry professor Charles Lieber’s laboratory, looked at boosting the signal from the electronics. "We put a tiny amplifier chip directly into the liquid chamber next to the nanopore, and the signals are so clean that we can see single molecules passing through the pore in only one microsecond," says Jacob Rosenstein, a Ph.D. candidate in electrical engineering at Columbia and lead author of the paper.
Recent advances in nanopore sequencing - Maitra - 2012 - ELECTROPHORESIS. Nanopores: A journey towards DNA sequencing. Nucleic Acid Amplification. We can provide you not only with rights to methods intellectual property, but also to technologies and products for building a full nucleic acid amplification platform, whether you are using PCR (polymerase chain reaction), NASBA, SDA (strand displacement assay), RCA (rolling circle amplification), in vitro transcription, or other techniques .Our portfolio includes: Sample preparation reagentsEnzymes and master mixesNucleotides, buffers, primers and probesCalibration standards and controlsMultiple types of detection reagents and related technologiesInstruments and software We also can manufacture to your preferred level of certification, from ISO 9001 to ISO 13584, GMP or USDA standards.
Real-time PCR The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the most commonly used nucleic acid amplification method in the world today. As the exclusive licensor of real-time PCR and certain PCR-improvement patents, we provide our business partners with access to these technologies in a variety of ways. Enzymes. The potential and challenges of nanopore sequencing. Modular Robots Will Transform Into Giant Machines! Nanowire Transistors Could Keep Moore’s Law Alive. The end of Moore’s Law has been predicted again and again. And again and again, new technologies, most recently FinFETs, have dispelled these fears. Engineers may already have come up with the technology that will fend off the next set of naysayers: nanowire FETs (field-effect transistors). In these nanodevices, current flows through the nanowire or is pinched off under the control of the voltage on the gate electrode, which surrounds the nanowire.
Hence, nanowire FETs’ other name: “gate-all-around” transistors. The solution, recent research shows, is to make a transistor that consists of a small forest of nanowires that are under the control of the same gate and so act as a single transistor. That thickness, the gate length, is the key. The nanowires were of an unusual construction. Kelin Kuhn, director of advanced device technology at Intel’s Hillsboro, Ore., location, agrees that all-around gate structures have some key advantages.
Introduction to nanopore sensing - Introduction to nanopore sensing - Technology - Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Nanotechnology and Emerging Technologies - Nanoscience News from Nanowerk.