Integrating Nanostructures with Biological Structures

1. Integrating Nanostructures with Biological Structures Investigators: M. Stroscio, ECE and BioE; M. Dutta, ECE Prime Grant Support: ARO, NSF, AFOSR, SRC, DARPA, DHS • Coupling manmade nanostructures with biological structures to monitor and control biological processes. • For underlying concepts see Biological Nanostructures and Applications of Nanostructures in Biology: Electrical, Mechanical, & Optical Properties, edited by Michael A. Stroscio and MitraDutta (Kluwer, New York, 2004). • Synthesis of nanostructures • Binding nanostructures to manmade structures • Modeling electrical, optical and mechanical properties of nanostructures • Experimental characterization of intergated manmade nanostructure-biological structures • Numerous manmade nanostructures have been functionalized with biomolecules • Nanostructure-biomolecule complexes have been used to study a variety of biological structures including cells • Interactions between nanostructures with biomolecules and with biological environments have been modeled for a wide variety of systems • Ultimate goal is controlling biological systems at the nanoscale