Nanoscale Tools to Push Biomedical Frontiers

描述 摘要： 新工具使生物学和医学取得了一些最重要的进展。我们正处在一个激动人心的新技术时代的门槛上，在这个时代，破译生物复杂性的深层次将是例行公事。在曾经被认为是不可分割的大层次尺度上解决生物和医学问题将成为可能，同时观察和协调前所未有的细节水平，直到分子尺度。这一切在真实的时间里都是可能的--最终为生物体进化的系统生物学提供了一个连续的窗口，这是合理的。这项工作旨在通过利用最新的纳米系统技术来加速实现这一愿景，这种方法将大量的单个纳米器件协调成一个具有紧急功能的连贯整体。目标是开发生物医学工具，同时实现新的物理观察窗口，同时积累必要的复杂性来解决复杂的问题。从许多领域提出了四个初步项目：（一）快速分型个别细菌没有培养;（二）从呼出的气体中获得生理“指纹”;（三）使用细胞力学和运动作为癌症研究的新工具;和（四）个别细胞的代谢，以提供早期筛选库的治疗药物候选人。每个例子都说明了如何利用现有的纳米系统技术来实现新的生物医学工具。每一种都利用了个体、单位纳米传感器及其目标之间的规模互补性。使用最先进的微电子代工生产的良好验证的方法，一个现实的计划概述了生产足够数量的强大的工具，使生物和医学研究的连续性。这种研究和生产模式将使突破性的，协作系统的研究，在生物医学科学，虽然实现的工具，

DESCRIPTION Abstract: New tools have enabled some of the most important advances in biology and medicine. We are at the threshold of an exciting new technological era in which deciphering deep levels of biological complexity will be routine. It will become possible to tackle biological and medical problems at what were once thought to be unimaginably large hierarchical scales, all the while observing and coordinating unprecedented levels of detail down to the molecular scale. And it is plausible that this will all be possible in real time - ultimately providing a continuous window into the evolving systems biology of organisms. This effort seeks to hasten the realization of this vision by leveraging recent advances nanosystems technology, an approach that coordinates vast numbers of individual nanodevices into a coherent whole with emergent functionality. The goal is development of biomedical tools that simultaneously enable new physical windows of observation, while amassing the requisite sophistication to address complex problems. Four initial projects are proposed from a realm of many: (i) fast typing of individual bacteria without culturing; (ii) obtaining physiological "fingerprints" from exhaled breath; (iii) using cell mechanics and motility as a new tool in cancer research; and (iv) following the metabolism of individual cells to provide early screening of libraries of therapeutic drug candidates. Each example illustrates how existing nanosystems technology can be leveraged to realize new biomedical tools. Each harnesses the complementarity of scale between individual, unit nanosensors and their targets. Using the well-validated approach of state-of-the-art microelectronic foundry production, a realistic plan is outlined for producing robust tools in sufficient quantities to enable biological and medical research continuity. This research and production paradigm will enable groundbreaking, collaborative systems research in biomedical sciences though realization of tools ca