Nanoarrays for Microbiology Research

Dr. Chad Mirkin, Northwestern University, EEC-0118025

At the NSEC for Integrated Nanopatterning and Detection Technologies, Dip-pen (DPN) lithography was used to construct arrays of proteins with 100- to 350-nanometer (1/10 to about 1/3 of a micron) sized features. Because proteins attach themselves to these "nanoarrays" only in controlled patterns, even in complex mixtures of proteins, researchers can use them to study biological "recognition" processes that take place on surfaces. For example, reactions involving the protein features and antigens in complex solutions can be detected easily by atomic force microscopy (AFM).

Figure 1. Using Dip-Pen Nanolithography, Researchers at Northwestern University have developed methods for fabricating arrays of nanoscopic features consisting of DNA and Proteins. These nanochips ultimately can be used to screen patients for infectious and genetic diseases in a fraction of time current methods require. (See Science, 2002, 295, 1702-1705. and Science, 2002, 296, 1836-1838.)

Potential applications range from ultra fast and sensitive detection and diagnosis of infectious and genetic diseases to high throughput screening of new pharmaceutical candidates. Imagine being able to go to a doctor and, over the course of an oridnary visit, being screened for every infectious disease (or genetic predisposition to disease) you could possibly have.