REU 2008 Summer Projects

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REU 2008 Summer Projects [ List all 37 projects ]

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Methods and Applications Development of Biomolecular Analysis for Microfluidic Platform @
- Stanford/ IBM ARC/ UC Davis/ UC Berkeley
Agilent Technologies has commercialized a microfluidic gel electrophoresis platform. Current applications include electrophoretic separation to determine size distribution and concentration of DNA, RNA and proteins. We are expanding the platform and developing new applications for the analysis of other molecules relevant to the fields of diagnostics and pharmaceutical development. A key to the successful development of new applications with be the development of biocompatible surfaces for the microfluidic channels. Surface properties play a critical role in the interaction between the Poker Blatt ist. microfluidic structure and the molecules of interest. These interfacial interactions are characterized with various techniques such as fluorescence microscopy, surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and x-ray photo emission spectroscopy (XPS), among others. The goals of this project are for the CPIMA student to gain an understanding of the properties of interactions and characterize these interactions between biomolecules and microfluidic structures composed of different materials and coatings.
Prerequisite: Must have a background in bioengineering, biochemistry, biophysics, or other related fields.
Nanoscale Sensing and Control of Biological Processes @
- Stanford/ IBM ARC/ UC Davis/ UC Berkeley
Nanoscale Sensing and Control of Biological Processes - Rapid progress with nanoelectronic components such as carbon nanotubes and metallic nanowires has made feasible the direct conversion of biological signals into electronic information. As this new field takes shape, the PI is testing the feasibility of nanoscale sensing and control of biological processes, such that a chip-scale component can be used to identify chemical species of interest, perform signal processing and computation based on the sensor inputs, and also electrochemically synthesize specified products in response. Major elements of this integrated nanoelectronic / microfluidic circuit concept have already been demonstrated in the PI’s laboratory and elsewhere. However, significant obstacles remain before real applications can be tested. One of the underlying unresolved scientific issues is how nanostructured electrodes behave differently from bulk electrodes — transport currents are significantly enhanced or suppressed due to local departures from electroneutrality. Although the behavior in principle can be modeled by solving the coupled Nernst-Planck and nonlinear Poisson equations, this process is difficult, slowly converging, and furthermore, the situations of experimental interest involve additional complexity, such as catalysts in solution and thin charged films due to organics adsorbed on the electrodes. In this research, nanoelectrodes will be configured and integrated with a microfluidic chip so that in situ nanoscale coupled electrochemical synthesis and detection can be conducted and then compared with a full physical model. The result will demonstrate the feasibility and procedures of predicting current-voltage behavior of nanoscale electrodes that are directly interfaced with biological systems.