Research Goal

The BIP is a project to develop an intelligent molecular microprocessor for the manipulation of molecules. To do so, we are developing a multicompartment, multimembrane biofluidic device with characteristic linear dimensions of nanometers and volumes ranging from tens of attoliters and up, specifically designed to manipulate species which must be handled at extremely low masses, e.g. , potent neurotoxins encountered in biological warfare agents. Electrokinetic flow is exploited to move species among the separate compartments of the device, and the nanopore membranes that separate the compartments also perform important biomolecular manipulations, e.g. affinity binding, molecular sieving. As a demonstration vehicle we will produce structures which specifically separate and detect the potent neurotoxin serotype A from Clostridium botulinum , BoNT/A. More than 5 papers have been published to date, with more coming. (DARPA)

Research Team:

Acknowledgement:

Work partially supported by DARPA Grant #

Related Publications: