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| Living organisms have evolved exquisite
capabilities in improtant technological areas including energy transduction,
chemical synthesis, sensing, signaling, and information processing. Reengineering
this living nanotechnology from the bottom up is a formidable task. However,
harvesting, training, and domesticating living organisms to apply their
intrinsic capabilities to desired applications is one of the most fundamental
of human accomplishments. We seek to extend this domestication capability
to individual living cells. By employing nanometer-scale physical and chemical
structures, we can get inside living cells and communicate with the molecular
processes of life directly. In this way, a truly functional interface between
living and nonliving systems can be created. There are several collaborative
projects that the division is involved in in this area:
Nanoscale Science and Technology in Biology Closing the divide between synthetic devices and living systems is of
paramount significance for realization of the full potential of nanotechnology.
Living organisms have evolved subcellular (nanometer scale) molecular
systems with exquisite capabilities in areas of energy transduction, chemical
synthesis, sensing, signaling, information processing, etc. Reengineer
this living nanotechnology from the bottom up is a formidable task. However,
harvesting, training, and domesticating living organisms to apply their
intrinsic capabilities to desired applications is one of the most fundamental
of human accomplishments. Integration of living organisms with synthetically
engineered systems is in its infancy but holds significant promise for
the extension of existing device capabilities. This new program seeks
to apply new and emerging technology to pattern and organize molecules
on the nanometer scale to develop sophisticated interfaces between living
systems and synthetic devices. The communication systems of living cells
are optimized to be responsive to molecular patterns on the nanometer
length scale. Thus we expect that qualitatively new behavior will be enabled
by developing nanofabrication technology to engineer communicative interfaces
between synthetic and living systems. Herein we outline a vertically integrated
program that fuses synthetic protein engineering and membrane technology
with metabolic engineering of living cells and electrochemical sensing
to build functioning devices that harness the capabilities of living cells.
Our emphasis is directed towards elucidation of design rules and strategies
that enable the construction of qualitatively new types of interactive Contact: Jay Groves (Principal Investigator) Chemical Biology Department, Physical BioSciences Division Berkeley Lab,; Assistant Professor of Chemistry, UC Berkeley Carolyn Bertozzi, Department Head of Chemical Biology Department, Physical BioSciences Division, Berkeley Lab; Associate Professor Chemistry, UC Berkeley Peter Matthes. Environmental Energy and Technology Division, Berkeley Lab Matthew Francis, Material Sciences Division, Berkeley Lab; Assistant
Professor of Chemistry, UC Berkeley |
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Molecular Foundry The Molecular Foundry is a new facility scheduled to open in early 2006. It is one of three Nanoscale Science Research Centers already selected to be established at Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories with funding by DOE's Office of Basic Energy Sciences. Inspired by the microlabs, it will be a user facility which will enable users to design, synthesize, and characterize state-of-the-art materials, and provide users rapid access to the latest developments in materials creation. It will be a comprehensive facility with the ability to use all length scales from to atomic to macroscopic and all methods of processing under one roof -lithography, cell culture, atom manipulation, chemical synthesis, etc so that there is a synergy between different methods of patterning. The principal investigator for this project is Paul Alivisatos. |
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