https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Scientists have engineered a nanoscale switch using DNA "origami." Inspired by macroscale mechanical switches, the device achieves long-term functionality without the continuous forcing mechanism that past versions required while remaining capable of fast switching. The paper is published in the journal Science Robotics. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-dna-based-nanoswitch-flip-milliseconds.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 01 Jul 2026 14:40:09 EDT news702132276 A study published in ACS Nano presents a novel biosensor for the isothermal, highly sensitive detection of bladder cancer biomarkers—miRNAs, short non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression—using programmable pH-responsive triplex DNA nanostructures. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-biosensor-ph-responsive-dna-nanoswitches.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 13 May 2025 14:29:02 EDT news666365341 As scientists have probed the mysteries of life down to smaller and smaller scales, they have invented tools to help them understand what they observe. Determining the identity of DNA and RNA molecules has now become commonplace thanks to the commercial development of next-generation sequencing technologies, but the same is not yet true of proteins, which are critically important players in nearly all biological processes. Proteins are much more complex than DNA and RNA, and are often chemically modified, making the goal of easily identifying single proteins within a sample (single-molecule proteomics) challenging to achieve. https://phys.org/news/2021-10-fingerprinting-proteins-avenue-single-molecule-proteomics.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 21 Oct 2021 11:00:08 EDT news554022916 MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short noncoding regulatory RNAs that can repress gene expression post-transcriptionally and are therefore increasingly used as biomarkers of disease. Detecting miRNAs can be arduous and expensive as they require amplification, labelling and radioactive probes. In a recent report published on Science Advances, Arun Richard Chandrasekaran and co-workers at the RNA Institute and Department of Biological Sciences, at the University of Albany, State University of New York, reported on a single-step, non-enzyme microRNA detection assay using conformationally unresponsive DNA nanoswitches. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-cellular-microrna-miracles.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 26 Mar 2019 09:30:09 EDT news472725191 Engineered strands of DNA—nanoscale tools called "nanoswitches"—could be the key to faster, easier, cheaper and more sensitive tests that can enable high-fidelity detection of biomarkers indicating the presence of different diseases, viral strains and even genetic variabilities as subtle as a single-gene mutation. https://phys.org/news/2017-09-health-simply-nanoswitch.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 11 Sep 2017 15:00:06 EDT news424353675 From the tension of contracting muscle fibers to hydrodynamic stresses within flowing blood, molecules within our bodies are subject to a wide variety of mechanical forces that directly influence their form and function. By analyzing the responses of single molecules under conditions where they experience such forces we can develop a better understanding of many biological processes, and potentially, develop more accurately acting drugs. But up until now experimental analysis of single molecule interactions under force have been expensive, tedious and difficult to perform because it requires use of sophisticated equipment, such as an atomic force microscope or optical tweezers, which only permit analysis of one molecule at a time. https://phys.org/news/2016-03-democratizing-high-throughput-molecule-analysis.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 17 Mar 2016 07:48:51 EDT news377419718 New research may revolutionize the slow, cumbersome and expensive process of detecting the antibodies that can help with the diagnosis of infectious and auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and HIV. An international team of researchers have designed and synthetized a nanometer-scale DNA "machine" whose customized modifications enable it to recognize a specific target antibody. Their new approach, which they described this month in Angewandte Chemie, promises to support the development of rapid, low-cost antibody detection at the point-of-care, eliminating the treatment initiation delays and increasing healthcare costs associated with current techniques. https://phys.org/news/2015-10-hiv-diagnostic-antibodies-dna-nanomachines.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 07 Oct 2015 03:42:18 EDT news363408124 Chemotherapy often shrinks tumors at first, but as cancer cells become resistant to drug treatment, tumors can grow back. A new nanodevice developed by MIT researchers can help overcome that by first blocking the gene that confers drug resistance, then launching a new chemotherapy attack against the disarmed tumors. https://phys.org/news/2015-03-nanodevice-defeats-drug-resistance.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 02 Mar 2015 15:40:58 EST news344533248 A complex interplay of molecular components governs almost all aspects of biological sciences - healthy organism development, disease progression, and drug efficacy are all dependent on the way life's molecules interact in the body. Understanding these bio-molecular interactions is critical for the discovery of new, more effective therapeutics and diagnostics to treat cancer and other diseases, but currently requires scientists to have access to expensive and elaborate laboratory equipment. https://phys.org/news/2015-01-dna-nanoswitches-reveal-life-molecules.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 30 Jan 2015 13:01:48 EST news341845300 (Phys.org)—By mimicking nature's own sensing mechanisms, bioengineers at UC Santa Barbara and University of Rome Tor Vergata have designed inexpensive medical diagnostic tests that take only a few minutes to perform. Their findings may aid efforts to build point-of-care devices for quick medical diagnosis of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), allergies, autoimmune diseases and a number of other diseases. The new technology could dramatically impact world health, according to the research team. https://phys.org/news/2012-09-bioengineers-rapid-easy-to-use-diagnostic.html Biochemistry Fri, 28 Sep 2012 08:06:30 EDT news268038359