Nanobiosensor developed for detecting SARS-CoV-2

Mar 27, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Infection and immunity status within a population are crucial factors in managing pandemics. Detecting antigens and antibodies is essential for this purpose. Point-of-care (POC) devices, which are used for rapid screening, are one option. However, their sensitivity requires improvement. Scientists at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) have...

First brew beer, then store energy

Mar 27, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Modern energy storage systems are an important building block for a climate-friendly future. “Modern” means not only that their performance meets the demands of a high-tech society, but also that they can be produced and recycled sustainably. In the search for new resources, scientists sometimes...

Understanding the protein corona – implications for nanomedicine and environmental health

Mar 27, 2023 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Nanoparticles are increasingly prevalent in our society, and as their use continues to expand, understanding their interaction with their local environments becomes vital. One critical aspect of these interactions is the formation of a biomolecular corona, which consists of proteins, lipids, sugar moieties, nucleic acids,...

The search for the missing gravitational signal

Mar 27, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Every year, hundreds of thousands of pairs of black holes merge in a cosmic dance that emits gravitational waves in every direction. Since 2015, the large ground-based LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA interferometers have made it possible to detect these signals, although only about a hundred...

Proper electronic structure of near-infrared absorbing functional dyes discovered

Mar 27, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Near-infrared light, whose wavelength is longer than visible light, is invisible and can pass through many substances. Organic materials that efficiently absorb near-infrared light are essential for technological innovations that utilize near-infrared light, such as the dyes in the infrared blocking filters of smartphone cameras...

Performing Bio-AFM on live cells

Mar 27, 2023 (Nanowerk News) A new application note discusses how atomic force microscope (AFM) systems can be used in various disciplines of biological research, such as imaging of live cells and bacteria, single-cell manipulation, or force spectroscopy on molecules, cells, or tissue. To perform advanced biological experiments on cells,...