Nanotechnology Approaches to Biotechnology and Medicine

Biology functions at the nanoscale. Thus, there are special opportunities not only to make biological measurements using nanotechnology, but also to interact directly in order to influence biological outcomes. I describe how we fabricate and use nanostructures to advance high-throughput gene editing for cellular therapies targeting genetic diseases and cancer immunotherapy. We also use microfluidics and functionalized nanostructured features in the selective capture, probing, and release of single circulating tumor cells in liquid biopsies in order to diagnose cancers and to assess the efficacy of treatments. We exploit molecular recognition and phase transitions to create molecular treadmills to grow three-dimensional co-cultured organoids efficiently. We exploit supramolecular assembly, acoustofluidics - in collaboration with your own Prof. Tony Jun Huang, specific surface functionalization, and plasmonics to enable these processes. Nanoscience and nanotechnology developed from chemistry, physics, biology, engineering, medicine, toxicology, and a host of other fields. Along the way, we taught each other our problems, challenges, and approaches. The interdisciplinary communication skills that were developed and are now part of our training remain unique to the field. As a result, nanoscience contributes to a wide range of other fields, such as neuroscience, the microbiome, oncology, cellular agriculture, and more.