Courtesy of Martin ChaplinWater molecules cluster to form hydrogen-bonded bicyclo-octamers (H2O)8 (top left) that can link together into larger structures (top right). Ideally they form 280-member icosahedral clusters, (H2O)280, (below), shown looking down the two-fold, three-fold, and five-fold axes of symmetry. Only the oxygen atoms of the constituent water molecules are shown (except at top left).Researchers are beginning to glimpse water's secret social life. Evidence is mounting that water

Courtesy of CiphergenResearchers hunting protein abnormalities or combinations that signal disease need assay chips sensitive to the broadest possible array of proteins, over the widest concentration range. But those researchers also want technology that can read large batches of samples quickly without sacrificing accuracy. To meet those needs, Fremont, Calif.-based Ciphergen Biosystems http://www.ciphergen.com has created its new ProteinChip System Series 4000 mass spectrometer.Like the compan

Erica P. JohnsonA biomolecular 'piston' derived from viral peptides should respond to changes in pH.Engineers expect that tomorrow's nanomachines – biomolecular devices that might patrol cells, repair genes, scour out infections, and haul away debris – will be powered by nature's own motors: the proteins kinesin, myosin, and dynein, which turn adenosine triphosphate (ATP) into fuel and move loads along microtubular tracks of actin and tubulin.It makes sense to use these off-the-shelf

Courtesy of Stanford University Medical CenterUsing live cells arrayed on a chip, a Stanford University team has prototyped an implantable silicon wafer designed not only to improve sight in macular degeneration patients, but also to dispense drugs and collect fluid samples inside the body.1 The implant, now in development, will be nearly 2.5 cm in diameter, 10 microns thick, and honeycombed with hundreds of microchannels, which will dispense neurotransmitters either from onboard stores or a tin

Courtesy of Oak Ridge National LaboratoryThe genome has been read. The proteome has been opened. As a result, research problems have gotten more difficult. Fortunately, access to the tools that help investigators rise to those new challenges is quickly becoming easier.How much easier? Ask Charles Taylor, a biomechanical engineer at Stanford University. To model the flow of blood in human arteries, Taylor needs to solve as many as 10 million nonlinear partial differential equations at once, "and

Courtesy of Nikon InstrumentsNikon Instruments of Melville, NY, is looking to blot out irreproducible results. Sporting new optics and enhanced usability features, the company's Eclipse 90i helps microscopists make the most of their data. "Photographs are fine, but you need digital data to satisfy your peers, and you need to be able to resolve that data to a degree that others come to the same conclusion you do," says Stan Schwartz, vice president of products and marketing.Nikon redesigned its l

Next time you buy a designer shirt, be sure to check the label. What you don't see may surprise you. Hidden within the ink or fibers of that shirt could lie an authentication device made not of plastic or metal, but of DNA."DNA has become the gold standard, the highest barrier to product counterfeiting, diversion, and piracy," says Julia Hunter, executive vice president of Applied DNA Sciences in Los Angeles. In this case, though, the term gold is both literal and figurative. The International C

Courtesy of ESAWhen it comes to metabolomics, there can be such a thing as too much information. The blossoming science typically uses mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to hunt for specific metabolites as markers of abnormal biological processes. "But those devices aren't geared to analyze samples like serum or urine that may have thousands of individual components," says Paul Gamache, director of applications development for ESA http://www.esainc.com in Chelmsford, Mass. "T

Alfred Pasieka/Photo Researchers, IncAblend of medical, electronic, and engineering break-throughs has improved the quality of life for many people faced with physical handicaps. New prosthetic limbs can move and flex like the original equipment and even respond to the wearer's own mental commands and cochlear implants let the deaf hear. Blindness, however, has proven less amenable to technological solutions. Yet that, too, may soon change. An assortment of engineers confronting that challenge n

Courtesy of GenVaultEvery year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey preserves 3,000 DNA samples, each bathed in liquid nitrogen in ever-expanding banks of freezers."The samples are a national resource for research and a database of baseline information for studying new diseases or epidemics," explains Geraldine McQuillan, senior infectious disease epidemiologist at the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, which runs the survey

Courtesy of ProtiverisSurface plasmon resonance (SPR), today's dominant bioassay technology, abolishes the need for chemical tags to identify targeted molecules. But the technique is gaining some competition. Rockville, Md.-based Protiveris's new VeriScan 3000 bioassay reader offers a cost-competitive alternative using microcantilevers that not only may be easier to use but also can read as many as 64 different samples at once.One edge of a 25-millimeter chip bears a series of silicon filaments,