Micro and nanoscale devices for study of biological systems

Micro and nanoscale technologies are providing new possibilities for investigating life processes at the sub-cellular and molecular level. Electrical and optical probes can be constructed to enable increasingly fine scale resolution of the dynamic processes taking place in living systems. Engineered structures with surface topography and chemistry patterned at sub-cellular dimensions are being used to explore how living cells respond to their environment. Similar approaches are allowing for analysis of increasingly small amount of biochemical, with the ultimate limit of single molecule analysis being seriously considered. These same technologies may be exploited for a new biotechnology making greater utility of active biomolecules combined with electronic and optical devices. This talk will explore some of the activity in our laboratory toward the development of these new research devices based on nanofabricated structures.