Nanoscale Tools to Push Biomedical Frontiers

描述 摘要： 新的工具使生物学和医学中的一些最重要的进步成为可能。我们正处于一个令人兴奋的新技术时代的门槛，在这个时代，破译深层的生物复杂性将是例行公事。它将有可能在曾经被认为是难以想象的大等级尺度上解决生物和医学问题，同时观察和协调前所未有的细节水平，一直到分子尺度。这似乎是可能的，这一切都将是实时的-最终为了解有机体进化的系统生物学提供了一个连续的窗口。这一努力试图通过利用最新的先进纳米系统技术来加速实现这一愿景，这种方法将大量单独的纳米设备协调成一个具有新兴功能的连贯整体。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。来自多个领域的四个初步项目被提出：(I)无需培养的单个细菌的快速分型；(Ii)从呼出的呼吸中获得生理“指纹”；(Iii)使用细胞力学和运动学作为癌症研究的新工具；以及(Iv)跟踪单个细胞的新陈代谢，以提供治疗候选药物库的早期筛选。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靶标之间的规模互补性。使用经过充分验证的最先进的微电子铸造厂生产方法，概述了一个现实的计划，以生产足够数量的坚固耐用的工具，以实现生物和医学研究的连续性。这一研究和生产范式将通过实现工具案例，实现生物医学科学中开创性的、协作的系统研究

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