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(08-0403) Prof. Lin He, NC State University

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Prof. Lin He, North Carolina State University

Enriching the Analytical Toolbox with Nanomaterials-by-Design

Significant advances in modern technology have given us opportunities to explore and comprehend nature at a level of detail never dreamed of. To continue this fast-paced progress, the development of novel strategic methodologies to address complex scientific questions is imperative. Equipped with interdisciplinary approaches, our research focuses on developing two main technologies- nanomaterials-based mass spectrometric imaging and polymerization-based biosensors- and exploiting their applications in the field of biomedical research.

In the first thrust, highly ordered nanoarrays have been used as the energy-mediating center to facilitate desorption and ionization of small molecules on a surface in MS. The tunable features of these ordered arrays have provided an excellent model system to correlate the physical and chemical properties of the MS substrates to the ionization behaviors of adsorbed analytes. The investigation has led to the development of a new hybrid ionization method with improved detection sensitivity, reduced background noise, and broadened mass window for metabolite detection. Furthermore, the new ionization method has been implemented to profile metabolite fluctuations in Arabidopsis thaliana and to image spatial distribution of lipids in animal tissues.

The second research direction focuses on using real-time molecular growth in an Amplification- by-Polymerization platform to achieve enzyme-free and detector-free DNA detection. The platform has offered greater sensing flexibility in which the level of amplification is controllable in situ based on the sensing needs. It has also offered better portability by eliminating sophisticated equipments or perishable enzymes. Detection of
a few thousand copies of DNA molecules has been directly visualized with naked eye. Colorimetric detection of DNA based on the formation of core-shell nanoparticles has also been demonstrated.

For more information contact Dr. Andrew Lyon (404-894-4090).

Status

  • Workflow Status:Published
  • Created By:Shirley Tomes
  • Created:04/22/2007
  • Modified By:Fletcher Moore
  • Modified:10/07/2016

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