Biological motors sort molecules one by one on a chip

Researchers have discovered how to use the motors of biological cells in extremely small channels on a chip. Based on this, they built a transport system that uses electrical charges to direct the molecules individually. To demonstrate this, Delft University of Technology’s Kavli Institute of Nanoscience researchers sorted the individual molecules according to their color. Professor Hess of the University of Florida has called the discovery “the first traffic control system in biomolecular motor nanotechnology”.

Technique monitors thousands of molecules simultaneously

A chemist at Washington University in St. Louis is making molecules the new-fashioned way — selectively harnessing thousands of minuscule electrodes on a tiny computer chip that do chemical reactions and yield molecules that bind to receptor sites. Kevin Moeller, Ph.D., Washington University professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences, is doing this so that the electrodes on the chip can be used to monitor the biological behavior of up to 12,000 molecules at the same time.