The Nanoscale Bioengineering Laboratory at UCSD is working towards the development of rapid highly parallel assisted self-assembly nanofabrication and heterogeneous integration processes and the creation of novel photonic energy transfer systems for next generation DNA genotyping assays. Specifically, our research is focused on the construction of precision nano-mechanical systems, assembly of nanoparticles into higher-order structures, efficient transduction of nanoscale optical & electrical forces in macroscopic information output, and creation of new methods and systems for use in cancer and amyloid disease therapeutics and diagnostics.

Existing bottom-up assembly techniques are plagued by anisotropy and in-homogeneity at the micro- and nanoscale. Before we are able to achieve active control of bottom-up processes, we must first design the basic building blocks of this paradigm. By leveraging the biological recognition properties of DNA, antibodies and cell adhesion molecules, we feel that nanoparticles derivatized at the appropriate coordinate positions will allow precise nanoscale control in a format amenable to large scale manufacturing. Therefore, one aspect of our current research is aimed at developing highly parallel fabrication techniques which circumvent nonspecific binding through field-mediated, hierarchical construction. This method can be used to create micro and nano sized “sandwiches” of particulates which can then house therapeutics or other desired particulates and molecules internally, thereby creating a mechanism for in-vivo delivery.

     A second component of our laboratory is focused on creating ways to communicate with nano-mechanical systems to improve the performance of point-of-care DNA molecular diagnostics. Complex biological samples may prevent traditional washing, thermal, or salt stringency measures from discriminating between mismatched DNA sequences. And as such, we are exploring ways to leverage oscillatory nanoscale transducers to circumvent the classical inverse relationship between sensitivity and specificity within Gaussian distributed systems.

     Another component of our laboratory is the creation of a blood particulate separation mechanism for use in cancer and amyloid disease diagnostics. Since the usage of AC electric fields is currently a preferred method for manipulation of nano-particulates, due to size restrictions, we have come up with a method using dielectrophoresis to separate blood particulates into its components. Current research indicates that high molecular weight DNA increases in the blood after chemotherapeutics are administered to patients, therefore the amount and molecular weight of DNA in blood is a valuable indicator of the amount of cancer cells as well as regular cells killed in the process of chemotherapy. This enables the creation of a feedback mechanism for doctors who can then use it to fine tune the therapeutics given to patients. This separation mechanism can also be used in a diagnostic capability to identify and separate out proteins involved in amyloid diseases as well as separate out somatic stem cells floating in the bloodstream from regular cells for usage in stem cell research. Lastly, a large scale version of this mechanism might have possible uses in therapeutics via cleansing the blood of cancerous cells and malignant proteins and then returning the cleaned blood back to the patient thereby negating inhibitory and immune responses normally seen after transfusions and bone marrow transplants in cancer patients.