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

这项提议的目标有两个：第一，研究DNA和蛋白质大分子在DC到100 MHz频率下的电极化率；第二，研究微电极和纳米电极产生的基于局部不均匀电场的双向电泳力是否可以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延伸到纳米级的“物体”。一个重要且尚未探索的研究挑战将是调查以下问题：双电泳力是否足够强，足以克服溶液中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？什么物理过程设置了这个极限？最终可以利用光刻定义任意电极几何形状和向不同电极施加任意电压序列的能力来操纵具有生物学意义的单个大分子，一次控制溶液中的一个分子的化学反应，并构建具有定制设计的电、光、磁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：第一，加强国家的健康和保健系统-使用纳米生物技术。纳米电子和机械设备的集成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、用于患者体内特定部位和器官特定药物输送的纳米药物、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险检测以及低成本部署的医疗服务和诊断的低成本部署。在教育领域，其影响将是扩大高中阶段未被充分代表的群体的参与。通过在微米和纳米制造以及现代DNA化学方面的综合、跨学科的研究和培训计划，在本科生和研究生水平。此外，更广泛的影响将是在高中生、教师和管理人员之间建立长期的关系，这些学生来自以少数民族为主的社区的教育困难学生，以及加州大学本科生、研究生、博士后和教职员工层面的科学家和工程师。

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.