Memory Polymer News

George Sgouros, professor of radiology and affiliated faculty member of the Institute for NanoBioTechnology at Johns Hopkins University, is one of the scientists featured on the CBS Evening News in a segment on nanotechnology for cancer. (…read more)

Poster Session during the 2008 NanoBio Symposium at Johns Hopkins University. (left) Noy Bassik
(right) Jonathan Schneck. Credit: Will Kirk / JHU

A standing-room-only crowd packed Owens Auditorium of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center May 1 to hear how future cancer detection and treatment will involve tools and therapies designed at the scale of molecules and atoms. More than 500 people attended the annual NanoBio Symposium hosted by the Institute for NanoBioTechnology (INBT) on May 1 and 2 at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Along with Thursday’s Nanotechnology for Cancer workshop with 10 Hopkins faculty presenters, the symposium featured talks by distinguished speakers and a poster session representing nano-related research from several university divisions and beyond. (…read more)

2008 NanoBio Symposium. This year’s event will be held at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

All facets of research relating to the emerging discipline of nanobiotechnology—a science that operates at the scale of one-billionth of a meter—will be explored at the second annual Johns Hopkins NanoBio Symposium, May 1-2, 2008. This year’s event will be held at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md. and is hosted by the Institute for NanoBioTechnology (INBT). (…read more)

Jennifer West. Speaker at the 2008 NanoBio symposium. Credit: Rice University

Metallic Nanoshells Shine Light on Cancer

Clinicians may soon be able to add metallic nanoshells to the arsenal of weapons that they can use to preserve and protect human health. Metallic nanoshells— super tiny spheres composed of layers of differing materials—allow light to safely penetrate deep within tissues to help diagnose or treat disease, says bioengineer Jennifer West. West will discuss her current work with nanoshells at the second annual Johns Hopkins NanoBio Symposium, hosted by the Institute for NanoBioTechnology, on May 1 -2 at the School of Medicine.

West is the Isabel C. Cameron Professor of Bioengineering at Rice University in Houston, Texas. She was previously named one of the world’s 100 Top Young Innovators by Technology Review, the innovation magazine of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she earned her undergraduate degree.

Nanoshells have the ability to be “optically tuned,” West says. “Depending on their size and composition, we can make them either absorb or scatter light anywhere in the electromagnetic spectrum.”

This property of optical tuning means nanoshells can either heat up locally to destroy tumor tissue or reflect light back to improve imaging—or both—over a range of light wavelengths. The materials used for each layer of the nanoshell determine the wavelengths over which the device can be tuned. A typical nanoshell can be fabricated by fusing an outer layer of a biocompatible metal, such as gold, over an inner core of silica, West says, though other materials also are used.

Since the nanoshells typically “tune” over a very narrow range of near infrared light (from 700-900 nanometers in the spectrum), they will neither heat up the water in tissues nor will they be absorbed by hemoglobin in blood or melanin in the skin, West explains, This property prevents the nanoshells from causing collateral damage to the surrounding tissues.

“A light shone from outside the body can pass harmlessly through tissue,” West says. “There is such deep penetration of light that this technology can be used for whole breast biopsy and whole brain imaging.”

The property of optical tunability also makes nanoshells an excellent tool for detecting viruses and bacteria in whole blood, West adds. Nanoshells with antibodies attached to their surfaces interact with the antigen in question and form clumps. The clumps diffuse the light reflected by the nanoshells, West explains, and one can determine the concentration of whatever is being studied by the degree of diffusion.

West says that she and the inventor of the nanoshell—Naomi Halas, the Stanley C. Moore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Professor of Chemistry at Rice—are currently working with a Texas firm to commercialize the use of a nanoshell-based medical device for clinical use.

Related Web sites:

To learn more about Jennifer West and her research on biofunctional material, tissue engineering and nanophotonics, visit her web page at Rice University.

For information on the 2008 NanoBio Symposium, hosted by the Institute for NanoBioTechnology at Johns Hopkins University, go to http://inbt.jhu.edu/symposium

Continuous negative ion mass spectrometer. Credit Bowen Lab/JHU

Faculty profile: Kit Bowen Jr.

Extremely small scale materials behave differently than one might expect when they come into close proximity to one another. The principles of basic physical chemistry are not quite as clear cut as one might imagine. And it is these properties that inspire the research of Kit Bowen Jr., the E. Emmett Reid Professor of Chemistry in the Krieger School of Arts and Science and affiliated faculty member of the Institute for NanoBioTechnology. (…read more)

Tania Chan. Graduate student in the NanoBio IGERT program. Credit: Mary Spiro / JHU

Tania Chan is a first year PhD student in materials science at Johns Hopkins University and member of the NanoBio IGERT with the Institute for NanoBioTechnology. IGERT stands for Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship and is funded by the National Science Foundation.

Working with Michael (Seungju) Yu, associate professor of materials science and engineering and INBT affiliated faculty member, Chan has synthesized a protein, called QK, which mimics VEGF, the natural growth factor responsible for new blood vessel growth. The QK will be paired with a synthetic peptide that mimics natural collagen—a protein found in connective tissues, bone, muscle and skin. This synthetic combination will be used to modify collagen scaffolds with the long term goal of controlling microvasculature formation in artificial tissue and wound healing. (…read more)

Hai-Quan Mao

Hai-Quan Mao, Johns Hopkins University assistant professor of materials science and engineering and affiliated faculty member of the Institute for NanoBioTechnology received a $500,000 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award, given in recognition of young scientists’ commitment to research and education. The award offers $100,000 each year for five years. One aspect of Mao’s research centers on creating nanofiber scaffolds that mimic the topography and biochemical cues found in the extracellular matrix—that is, the “basement” membrane that provides structure and support to cells. This CAREER award supports his research in how these nanofiber scaffolds can serve to direct and control the adhesion and growth of neural stem cells. The ultimate goal of this work, Mao says, could lead “stem cell-based regenerative therapies, particularly for treating degenerative diseases and traumatic injuries of the central nervous system.”

Howard E. Katz

Johns Hopkins Professor of materials science and engineering and INBT affiliate Howard E. Katz recently was honored with title of inaugural Fellow of the Materials Research Society (MRS). He was one of 34 distinguished scholars who received this lifetime designation. The title of MRS fellow honors its members who are notable for their distinguished research accomplishments and their outstanding contributions to the advancement of materials research, worldwide. The official presentation took place, March 26 at the 2008 Spring Meeting of the MRS in San Francisco, Calif. Katz was lauded “for introducing multifunctional organic materials into electronic and optical devices including transistors and electro-optic modulators; for innovation in materials synthesis; and for serving the materials community through society leadership, editorship, and government outreach.” Katz has served on the MRS board from 2000 to 2005 and will assume the Presidency of the International Union of Materials Research Societies in 2009. He leads the Congressional Visit Days and is an Associate Editor of the MRS Journal of Materials Research.

Related Web sites:

• Hai-Quan Mao’s INBT faculty Web page.
• Howard E. Katz’ faculty page on the INBT Web site

“Nanoparticles in Biomedical Imaging,” is the title of a new book co-edited by Jeff W.M. Bulte, professor in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and affiliated faculty member of the Institute for NanoBioTechnology, and his colleague Mike M.J. Modo, of the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College in London, UK. Published by Springer, Bulte says this volume “would be an excellent textbook for materials scientists and chemical engineers working on fabricating all sorts of particles, but who need more information about their various biological and medical applications.” (…read more)

All facets of research relating to the emerging discipline of nanobiotechnology—a science that operates at the scale of one-billionth of a meter—will be explored at the second annual Johns Hopkins NanoBio Symposium, May 1 -2, 2008. This year’s event will be held at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md. and is hosted by the Institute for NanoBioTechnology (INBT). (…read more)

A Nanoscale Solution to the $1,000 Genome

Jeffery Schloss, speaker at the 2008 Nanobio Symposium at Johns Hopkins University.
Credit: Jeffery Schloss

One day physicians may be able to personalize our medical care based on the genetic information we carry around with us on a thumb-drive. Using nano-scale structures, researchers are trying to develop inexpensive ways to sequence a complete genome, says Jeffery Schloss, Program Director for Technology Development Coordination at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). At the May 2 Johns Hopkins NanoBio Symposium, hosted by the Institute for NanoBioTechnology, Schloss will discuss current research in this area, as well as the nanotechnology related activities of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). (…read more)