Author: parkin

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Upcoming Presentations

Our group is preparing presentations for the upcoming Biophysical Society and American Physical Society meetings.
At the annual BPS meeting, Chris Merchant will give a talk on DNA translocations through nanopores created in graphene membranes on March 9th at 8:15 AM, and Kimberly Venta will present a poster in the poster session on March 9th from 10:30-12:30.
At the APS March Meeting, Jessamyn Fairfield will give a talk about Memory, Photoconductivity, and Traps in Semiconducting Nanocrystal Arrays on March 23rd at 4:54 PM, and Chris Merchant will give a talk about DNA translocation through graphene nanopores on March 23rd at 12:27 PM.

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Nanopores Identify Modified DNA Bases

In our most recent paper, “Discrimination of methylcytosine from hydroxymethylcytosine in DNA molecules”, we investigate the physical properties of DNA with modified cytosines.
Molecular dynamics simulations reveal that polar cytosine modifications affect internal base pair dynamics, while experimental evidence suggests a correlation between the modified cytosine’s polarity, DNA flexibility, and duplex stability.
On the basis of these physical differences, solid-state nanopores can rapidly discriminate among DNA fragments with mC or hmC modification by sampling a few hundred molecules in the solution.

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MicroRNA Detection Published in Nature Nanotechnology

Our new paper, “Rapid electronic detection of probe-specific microRNAs using thin nanopore sensors”, published in Nature Nanotechnology and featured on the journal cover page, develops a platform for electronic detection of probe-hybridized microRNAs.
We find that reducing the thickness of the membrane containing the nanopore leads to increased signal amplitudes from biomolecules, and reducing the diameter of the nanopore allows the detection and discrimination of small nucleic acids based on differences in their physical dimensions.
The work was done in collaboration with New England Biolabs.

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Research Presented At University Of Chicago

Research from our group was presented at the Workshop on Electronic Transport in Nanoengineered Materials, at the University of Chicago September 16-18, 2010.
Marija Drndić gave a talk on “Nanogap quantum dot photoconductivity”, Matt Puster presented the poster “Electronic Transport Imaged via Electrostatic Force Microscopy in PbSe Nanocrystal Arrays”, and Lauren Willis and Jessamyn Fairfield presented the poster “Memory in Photoconductivity of Nanocrystal Arrays”.

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DNA Translocation Through Graphene Nanopores Published

New research from our group on graphene nanopores was published in Nano Letters. Our paper, DNA translocation through graphene nanopores, demonstrates DNA translocation through synthetic nanopore materials with atomic thickness and electrical addressability, which may serve as a step toward nanopore-based DNA sequencing. We envision graphene-based nanopore devices that sense and control the electric potential locally at the nanopore and are capable of measuring transverse current across the pore aperture.

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Fluorescence Dynamics of Semiconductor Nanorod Clusters Studied by Correlated Atomic Force, Transmission Electron, and Fluorescence Microscopy

Fluorescence Dynamics of Semiconductor Nanorod Clusters Studied by Correlated Atomic Force, Transmission Electron, and Fluorescence Microscopy

Claudia Querner, Siying Wang, Ken Healy, Jessamyn Fairfield, Michael D. Fischbein and Marija Drndić

Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 112 (50), 19945-19956
2008

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Drndić Lab Research Featured On History Channel Show The Works

Research from our lab was featured on the History Channel show The Works on July 24th, 2008.

THE WORKS: POWER TOOLS (Thursday, July 24th at 10pm ET/PT) Since the Egyptians invented them three thousand years ago, power tools have transformed the face of the earth. As we trace their evolution, we find out their hidden commonalities: from power tools that slice mountains in half to new breakthroughs in nanotechnology that enable them to literally split hairs. Follow the life of a power tool as it goes from an idea to our garage shelf as we discover how they’re being used in surprising ways in sports, medicine and art.

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Highlighting Past Awards

Selected previous events:

  • Werner B. Teutsch Prize awarded to Lauren Willis (2006).
  • PECASE Award (Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers) awarded to Marija Drndić (2005).
  • NSF-IGERT graduate fellowship awarded to Michael Fischbein (2004-2007).
  • Arnold M. Denenstein Prize awarded to Michael Fischbein (2004).