EAGER: Super-radiant Virus-like Particles

PI将构建报告的最小光源，其发射类似于激光。其亮度将比现有技术的类似尺寸的荧光纳米颗粒高至少两个数量级。这种纳米级激光源在指导和辅助显微手术方面将是有价值的，特别是在大脑中。 PI有良好的指导和外联记录。PI将继续这些活动，例如在拟议的研究期间指导暑期本科生。纳米激光器的小尺寸将使其能够进入细胞之间的空间。高亮度将能够触发局部光化学反应。这种远程光源可以光刺激单个突触，这是神经系统之间无线远程信息交换的一步。这也可以产生化学物质，选择性地破坏纳米激光粒子靶向的癌细胞。纳米激光器是一种独特的分子结构，其材料支架是病毒外壳。使用这种生物启用方法的优点是由于结构组织和自组装中遗传的分子精确性，自组装自发地发生在简单的良性试剂中。

The PI will construct the smallest reported light source with emission similar to laser light. Its brightness will be at least two orders of magnitude higher than state of the art fluorescent nanoparticles of similar size. Such a nanoscopic laser source will be valuable in guiding and assisting microscopic surgery, specifically in the brain. The PI has a well-established record of mentoring and outreach. The PI will continue these activities, e.g. mentoring a summer undergraduate student during the proposed research. The small size of the nanolaser will enable accessing the spaces between cells. The high brightness will enable triggering local photochemical reactions. Such a remote light source could photo stimulate a single synapse, a step towards wireless remote information exchange between the nervous system. This could also produce chemical species which selectively destroy cancer cells targeted by the nanolaser particles. The nanolaser is a unique molecular structure, its material scaffold being a virus shell. The advantage of using such a bio-enabled approach is due to the inherited molecular precision in structural organization and from self-assembly, which occurs spontaneously from simple, benign reagents.