NEWSROOM

Nanotechnology is significantly advancing medicine. Tiny, specially designed particles deliver active substances into diseased cells or have a healing effect themselves. To ensure that this happens as safely and effectively as possible, the behaviour of the nanoparticles after entering a cell must be studied in detail. Synchrotron radiation sources offer the best opportunities for this. In particular, the planned PETRA IV X-ray microscope at DESY promises detailed insights.

A team from UNIGE and the University of Pisa has designed surprisingly stable molecular assemblies, paving the way for new drug constructs and geometrically controlled materials.

Scientists at Rice University and University of Houston have developed an innovative, scalable approach to engineer bacterial cellulose into high-strength, multifunctional materials. The study, published in Nature Communications, introduces a dynamic biosynthesis technique that aligns bacterial cellulose fibers in real-time, resulting in robust biopolymer sheets with exceptional mechanical properties.

Engineers have harnessed quantum physics to detect the presence of biomolecules without the need for an external light source, overcoming a significant obstacle to the use of optical biosensors in healthcare and environmental monitoring settings.

Now, an interdisciplinary team of scientists at King’s have developed a nanoneedle patch that painlessly collects molecular information from tissues without removing or damaging them. This could allow healthcare teams to monitor disease in real time and perform multiple, repeatable tests from the same area – something impossible with standard biopsies.

A team of researchers from Brown University has developed a new nanotechnology-based approach that could improve treatment of fungal infections, particularly those caused by the increasingly drug-resistant Candida species.