#nanothermometer

[evolving-science]

DNA Nanothermometer

Biochemists at the University of Montreal have synthesized the world’s smallest thermometer. To do this, they designed and synthesized DNA that had a programmable linear response to temperature. This DNA probe comes with increased sensitivity and response when compared to previous attempts. Reported in Nano Letters, the team emphasizes the development of nanoprobes and nanoswitches that will expand the field of nanomachinery and nanoelectronics.

[sciencecover-blog]

A nanothermometer measures the temperature in a cell

A nanothermometer measures the temperature in a cell

The Rice lab of chemist Angel Martí revealed how it modified a biocompatible molecular rotor known as boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY, for short) to reveal temperatures inside single cells.

The molecule is ideally suited to the task. Its fluorescence lasts only a little while inside the cell, and the duration depends heavily on changes in both temperature and the viscosity of its environment.

(mor…

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[evolving-science]

DNA Nanothermometer

Biochemists at the University of Montreal have synthesized the world’s smallest thermometer. To do this, they designed and synthesized DNA that had a programmable linear response to temperature. This DNA probe comes with increased sensitivity and response when compared to previous attempts. Reported in Nano Letters, the team emphasizes the development of nanoprobes and nanoswitches that will expand the field of nanomachinery and nanoelectronics.

[currentsinbiology]

Chemists use DNA to build the world's tiniest thermometer                

Researchers at University of Montreal have created a programmable DNA thermometer that is 20,000x smaller than a human hair. This scientific advance reported this week in the journal Nano Letters may significantly aid our understanding of natural and human designed nanotechnologies by enabling to measure temperature at the nanoscale.

Over 60 years ago, researchers discovered that the DNA molecules that encode our genetic information can unfold when heated. "In recent years, biochemists also discovered that biomolecules such as proteins or RNA (a molecule similar to DNA) are employed as nanothermometers in living organisms and report temperature variation by folding or unfolding," says senior author Prof. Alexis Vallée-Bélisle. "Inspired by those natural nanothermometers, which are typically 20,000x smaller than a human hair, we have created various DNA structures that can fold and unfold at specifically defined temperatures."

David Gareau, Arnaud Desrosiers, Alexis Vallée-Bélisle. Programmable Quantitative DNA Nanothermometers. Nano Letters, 2016; DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b00156

3D render of DNA structure. One of the main advantages of using DNA to engineer molecular thermometers is that DNA chemistry is relatively simple and programmable.Credit: © DigitalGenetics / Fotolia