NanoAnalyzer: An emerging technology to analyse life at the nanoscale

谢菲尔德大学（TUoS）的研究人员专注于了解细胞是如何相互沟通的。我们还研究了人类细胞和细菌在感染过程中如何相互作用。我们已经证明，细胞通过释放非常小的颗粒（称为纳米颗粒）来相互交流，这些颗粒含有充当信息的分子。细菌和人类细胞也可以通过这种方式进行交流。我们也研究这些粒子，这样我们就可以设计人工纳米粒子，它可以携带分子，用于治疗癌症等疾病。为了研究天然和人造纳米粒子，我们需要专门的设备，使我们能够测量颗粒的大小、浓度和它们包含的分子信息。然而，我们目前在TUoS没有设备允许我们实现这一目标。这项申请的目的是为了获得资金来购买一种名为纳米分析仪的独特仪器，该仪器使用激光来测量通过机器的颗粒的大小和数量。纳米分析仪还可以检测绿色和红色荧光颗粒，这使我们能够标记纳米颗粒中包含的分子信息。购买该仪器对于确保TUoS保持在纳米粒子研究的前沿至关重要。

Researchers at The University of Sheffield (TUoS) are focused on understanding how cells talk to each other. We also investigate how human cells and bacteria interact during infection. We have already shown that cells talk to each other by releasing very small particles (known as nanoparticles), which contain molecules that act as messages. Bacteria and human cells can also communicate in this way. We also study these particles so that we can design artificial nanoparticles, which can carry molecules that can be used in the treatment of diseases such as cancer. To study natural and artificial nanoparticles, we require specialist equipment that allows us to measure the particle size, concentration and molecular messages they contain. However, we do not currently have equipment at TUoS that allows us to achieve this. The aim of this application is to secure funding to purchase a unique instrument called the NanoAnalyzer, which uses lasers to measure the size and number of particles that pass through the machine. The NanoAnalyzer can also detect green and red fluorescent particles, which allows us to tag the molecular messages contained in nanoparticles. Purchasing this instrument is essential to ensure that TUoS remains at the forefront of nanoparticle research.