Pushing Dielectrophoresis to the Single Molecule Limit for Applications in Molecular Electronics, Electronically Assisted Chemical Self-Assembly, Nano-manufacturing, Nano-biotech

本提案的目标有两个：首先，研究DNA和蛋白质大分子在直流电至100 MHz频率下的电极化率；其次，研究基于微和纳米制造电极产生的局部非均匀电场的双电泳力是否可用于操纵芯片上的单个生物分子。这将是对活细胞的类似电子操作扩展到纳米尺度的“物体”。一个重要但尚未探索的研究挑战将是调查以下问题：二电泳力是否足够强大，以克服溶液中DNA和蛋白质分子的热诱导运动？通过使用这些“电子镊子”来控制大分子位置的能力的空间分辨率是多少？什么样的物理过程设定了这个极限？通过光刻技术定义任意电极几何形状，并在不同电极上施加任意顺序的电压，最终可以用来操纵具有生物意义的单个大分子，控制溶液中一个分子一次的化学反应，以及一次一个分子地构建具有定制设计的电子、光学、磁性和机械性能的新材料和电子电路。包括但不限于大规模集成分子电子学（“LIME”）。更广泛的影响是多方面的：首先，利用纳米生物技术加强国家的健康和医疗保健系统。纳米级电子和机械设备的集成，如碳纳米管，在化学上具有特异性，可用于对DNA、蛋白质和病毒等单分子进行生物学和化学上有趣的测量，可以应用于基因测序和基因芯片、蛋白质组学和蛋白质折叠科学、用于患者体内特定位点和器官的纳米医学、用于快速候选药物筛选的芯片实验室设备。用于反恐的生物和化学危害检测，以及低成本部署即时医疗服务和诊断。在教育领域，其影响将是通过在微纳米制造以及现代DNA化学方面的综合跨学科研究和培训计划，扩大高中、本科和研究生水平上代表性不足的群体的参与。此外，更广泛的影响将是在高中学生、教师和管理人员与来自少数族裔学生占主导地位的社区的教育弱势学生以及加州大学本科生、研究生、博士后和教员级别的科学家和工程师之间建立长期关系。

The objectives of this proposal are two-fold: First, to investigate the electrical polarizability of macromolecules of DNA and proteins at frequencies from D.C. to 100 MHz and second, to investigate whether di-electrophoretic forces based on local non-uniform electric fields generated by micro- and nano-fabricated electrodes can be used to manipulate individual bio-molecules on a chip. This will be an extension of similar electronic manipulations of living cells to nanometer scale "objects". An important and as yet unexplored research challenge will be to investigate the following questions: Are the di- electrophoretic forces sufficiently strong to overcome thermally induced motion of the DNA and protein molecules in solution? What is the spatial resolution of the ability to control the positions of macromolecules through the use of these "electronic tweezers", and what physical processes set that limit?The ability to lithographically define arbitrary electrode geometries and apply an arbitrary sequence of voltages to the different electrodes can ultimately be exploited to manipulate individual macromolecules of biological significance, control chemical reactions one molecule at a time in solution, and construct new materials and electronic circuits one molecule at a time with custom designed electronic, optical, magnetic, and mechanical properties, including but not limited to large scale integrated molecular electronics ("LIME").The broader impacts are multi-fold: First, to enhance the nation's health and health care system-using nano-biotechnology. The integration of nanoscale electronic and mechanical devices such as carbon nanotubes chemically functionalized with specificity for biologically and chemically interesting measurements on single molecules such as DNA, proteins, and viruses could have applications such as genetic sequencing and gene chips, proteomics and protein folding science, nano-medicine for site-specific and organ-specific drug delivery within a patient, lab-on-a-chip devices for fast candidate drug screening, biological and chemical hazard detection for counter terrorism, as well as low-cost deployment of point-of-care medical service and diagnostics.In the area of education, the impact will be to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups at the high-school, undergraduate, and graduate level through integrated, interdisciplinary research and training programs in micro and nanofabrication as well as modern DNA chemistry. Furthermore, the broader impact will be to establish long-term relationships between high-school students, teachers, and administrators with educationally disadvantaged students from neighborhoods with predominantly ethnic-minority student populations and University of California scientists and engineers from the undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral, and faculty levels.