Karen Martinez, Head of the BioNano Group, University of Copenhagen’s Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, and her team at the Nano-Science Center have integrated nanotechnologies and nanomaterials that are conventionally utilized for electric systems with single viable cells.
The scientists have demonstrated that a cell can thrive and function on a surface of tiny erect needles developed from semiconductor materials called nanowires.
Karen Martinez has stated that their new method enables them to study the functioning of cells when they are pierced on surfaces made of nanowires. She mentioned that the method is highly promising and it could be utilized in pharmaceutical labs to analyze new drugs for several diseases like cancer, cardiac problems and other neurological issues.
With this new innovation, the Danish research team heads the global research in this interdisciplinary area of study, along with few other teams from Harvard, Berkeley and Lund.
Professor Morten Meldal, New Director of the Nano-Science Center, mentioned that the Nano-Science Center links several biologists, physicists, pharmacologists and chemists who are researching as a team across conventional research limits and this major innovation at the Nano-Science Center is an outcome of the promotion of this interdisciplinarity in the enduring premeditated focus at their Center.
Nanowires for this method were developed by Jesper Nygård and Claus Sørensen, Nanophysicists. Each nanowire measures 100 nm in diameter and Karen Martinez is in charge of the knowledge of the manipulation and functioning of cells. Trine Berthing, PhD student in Nanoscience, has been researching on the same area along with the team since 2007.
According to Karen Martinez, a new method has been developed for including several nanowires in an active cell. She added that they will further study the possibilities of using these methods in industrial applications along with inXell bionics, founded by scientists from the University of Copenhagen.
The study was published in Small journal. University of Copenhagen, the Danish Council for Strategic Research and the Lundbeck Foundation sponsored the research.
Source: http://www.ku.dk