There is increasing interest in the field of nanobiology.  Moving fabrication down to the scale of biological systems is an absolute prerequisite for a lot of biomimetics.

The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) of the University at Albany-State University of New York and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University today announced a new partnership to advance education and research in the cross-disciplinary fields of nanobiotechnology and nanomedicine.

…the two institutions will focus on educational and research programs designed “to advance medical science and the treatment of persons suffering from injury and disease by understanding the pathophysiology of specific diseases at the molecular scale.”

UAlbany CNSE enters NanoBio alliance with Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Researchers at Rice University’s Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology is spear heading an effort to understand the toxicological effects of what will certainly be a huge health issue in the coming decades – nanoparticles.  These tiny (nanometer scale) particles are not usually simple beads, but rather a complex structure with surface chemistry and complex shapes.  She and colleagues aim to figure out what the unintended side effects of exposure is as well as characterizing the size and shape as they relate to a living system.   One of the striking things here is that they will only accept materials to test for which the manufacturer can supply a gram of particles.  This is an astonishingly large quantity and is a smart cut off.  If less than this amount is available then it is probably not yet worth trying to assess the effects on physiology.

Article

From the abstract…

The search for novel insect repellents has been driven by health concerns over established synthetic compounds such as diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET). Given the diversity of compounds known from frog skin and records of mosquito bite and ectoparasite infestation, the presence of mosquito repellents in frogs seemed plausible. We investigated frog skin secretions to confirm the existence of mosquito repellent properties. Litoria caerulea secretions were assessed for mosquito repellency by topical application on mice. The secretions provided protection against host-seeking Culex annulirostris mosquitoes. Olfactometer tests using aqueous washes of skin secretions from L. caerulea and four other frog species were conducted to determine whether volatile components were responsible for repellency. Volatiles from Litoria rubella and Uperoleia mjobergi secretions were repellent to C. annulirostris, albeit not as repellent as a DEET control. The demonstration of endogenous insect repellents in amphibians is novel, and demonstrates that many aspects of frog chemical ecology remain unexplored.

Science News Article

Bio Letters Article

The co option of animal sensory systems for robotics or as disembodied sensors seems likely to be a successful use of biomimicry. In this instance David Macmillan of Melbourne University has been exploring the sensory modalities of the crayfish as it negotiates dark tunnels.  The antennae, usually thought of as chemosensory structures, are apparently also adept touch sensors.  When faced with a y-maze the edible little fellows will make a random choice.  But, if an antenna is either denervated or tied back along the length of the animal it will pick the side it can ‘feel’ on.  The multi jointed antennae of crustaceans seems a worthwhile place to start looking for ‘feeler’ designs for wall following robots.

Bio Bull article

Macmillan’s page

Science New Article

Adhesion is one of the themes of this blog because biological systems have unparalleled mastery of surfaces and their interactions.  Barnacles, mussels and other marine invertebrates are worthy of a closer (phase I) look in order to understand the mechanisms and diversity of the glues they produce.  These glues are able to set while completely submerged.  They are strong, adhere well to dirty surfaces and appear to be very resistant to degradation.  Kristin Ödling of Göteborg University has taken a very close look at the production of cement proteins in larval barnacles.  She found four different types of cement granules. The route from inside to outside the cell is apparently powered by a sudden expansion in size of the granule that she attributes to osmotically induced swelling.

JEB Abstract

Though the site is a flash laden hell hole the information is fun and interesting at the Research Institute’s web site.  They have good graphics and explanations of several of the topics I have written about here including the brittle star eye, the properties of mollusc shells and crystal structure of marine microorganisms.

Institute Web Site

In addition to the NanoBio conference in San Francisco there is the European NanoBio Europe meeting in Grenoble. 

 As a merger of the NanoBioTec - Congress and Exhibition (Münster since 2001) and the NanoBiotechnologies X-France (Paris2001, Grenoble2003, Nice2005) we NanoBio-Europe we are proud to present the second annual international conference on Nanobiotechnology in Europe, the “NanoBio-Europe’06“.

Conference website

I have written about the Lotus effect and the ability of some surfaces to generate extreme contact angles in water droplets.  Here are a couple of images from BASF. They are working on sprays that would add this effect to surfaces.

The water droplets rest on the impregnated wood surface like mysterious blue pearls. But this is no conjuring trick: the wood has been treated with a BASFs nanoparticular surface coating , which has made its surface extremely water-repellent (superhydrophobic). This coating reduces the contact area between water and wood to a minimum. It also decreases the forces of adhesion, making the water droplets assume a globular form. Surfaces become self-cleaning and stay clean for a long time by applying nanostructures as they can be found on the leaves of the lotus plant.

The clean leaves of the lotus plant provided the inspiration for studies on the self-cleaning of surfaces. Botanist Professor Wilhelm Barthlott of Bonn University succeeded in explaining the lotus effect and utilizing it for technical applications. The self-cleaning process is based on the extremely water-repellent behavior of the leaf surface, also known as superhydrophobia. The water droplets form spherical globules and roll off the leaves even when they are only slightly inclined. Particles of dirt absorbed by the water are removed in the process, as we can see happening with this droplet on the leaf of the ancient Asiatic crop plant Colocasia esculenta. In this picture taken by Barthlott’s research team, we can also see the papillae on the cuticula. These papillae about 5 to 10 micrometers high are themselves coated by a fine nanostructure of wax crystals.

Click on the photos to see the source images.

Bristol and Sheffield universities are working on a biomimetic sensory system for robots.  Whiskers are exquisitely sensitive in determining texture and contact forces.  Better sensitivity is clearly needed in the robotics world and the this is far from the only project looking at biomimetic solutions.    

Their idea is to attach strain gages to the bases of fine glass ‘whiskers’ that will be swept back and forth to assess surface irregularities.  I can see how the system might work, but whiskers are not nearly so active in biological systems.  Perhaps it would be useful to try to understand how animals appreciate texture without moving so violently. It would be easier on the whiskers if they were not flailing. 

Bristol Robotics Lab

The WhiskerBot Project Page