Leading-Edge Research and Development > Research Profiles > Profiles Archive > CNSE professor utilizes innovative system for groundbreaking nanoscale healthcare research

Improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases are only a few of the ways that nanotechnology is impacting the healthcare industry. Dr. Nathaniel Cady, CNSE Assistant Professor of Nanobioscience, is using his research with the Nano eNabler molecular printing system on the path toward revolutionizing an industry.

Dr. Nathaniel Cady works on his Nano eNabler molecular printing system.

Research conducted at CNSE using BioForce Nanosciences Inc.'s Nano eNabler molecular printing system was recently published in the journal Applied Surface Science. The scholarly paper, authored by Dr. Cady and his collaborators from CNSE and the New York State Department of Health's Wadsworth Center, revealed his group's progress toward creating miniaturized biosensors. Their development of a means of attaching DNA probes onto the surface of the material aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) could lead to new DNA biosensors with high sensitivity and commercially viable fabrication processes.

Dr. Cady is working on additional projects to demonstrate that the Nano eNabler can also be used to directly dispense individual cells which are encapsulated with a protective coating, and to study the effects of local microenvironments on stem cells. By combining various physical structures with protein micropatterns, researchers are able to examine the differentiation and proliferation of single stem cells in response to a precisely constructed biomimetic environment.

"With the world's most advanced intellectual and technological infrastructure supporting nanotechnology education, research and development, CNSE is well positioned to make ultra-miniaturized biosensor technologies a reality with the help of BFNH's Nano eNabler," said Kerry Frey, BioForce's CEO. "Given the significant benefits the Nano eNabler's capabilities provide in biological research to create minimally invasive diagnostic tests and devices with enhanced sensitivity, speed and flexibility, it is our expectation that breakthroughs like this will help drive customer demand to record levels during 2009."

"The partnership between CNSE and BioForce Nanosciences, a recognized leader in integrating cutting-edge nanoscale technologies to foster innovations in the critical area of life sciences, is already paying dividends," said Dr. Robert Geer, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer of CNSE. "CNSE's growing focus on educational and research initiatives in the field of nanobioscience, including this work led by Professor Nathaniel Cady, promises to enable exciting advances in disease diagnosis, treatment and prevention, helping to address one of the critical issues facing society in the 21st century."

The rapidly growing field of bio-nanotechnology, at the intersection of biotechnology and nanotechnology, is an area of great interest to researchers. The ability to create environments containing ultra-micro to nanoscale features is critical in order to fully understand these interactions.

Such interactions are keys to the development of novel and potentially blockbuster therapeutic agents because they are frequently the basis for critical cellular functions including tissue growth, organ generation and regeneration, and cancer cell metastasis. The Nano eNabler system is able to create these environments with ultra-miniaturized features through its proprietary ultra-micro to nanoscale fluid deposition technology.