TEM Tomography for the Identification of Nanopores in Silicon Nanomembranes

Two experiments were performed to explore application of SiMPore filters within INT’s microfluidic cartridges to allow the capability for pathogen type specificity in nucleic acid purification. 1) The first experiment tested the efficiency at which nucleic acids could pass through the membranes. T4 polynucleotide kinase was used to 32-P radiolabel two different sized PCR products:…

If protein is adsorbing to a surface, it’s leaving the solution.  We can indirectly measure how much protein is leaving the solution, and that may tell us something about how much these surfaces are adsorobing. For my first attempt, I used the Bradford Reagent to measure the concentration of the solution after protein has remained…

I hope to bring this question to our group meeting. As we discussed before, we know that Cl- can be absorbed at the gold surface to screen the applied positive charge. We are using R6G as the filtration species, which is positively charged. So we must either use DI water as the buffer solution (we…

Anant and I have been doing long-term discoloration experiments for the past few weeks.  We set up samples in “ideal” conditions – pnc-Si in transwells with pnc-Si side down, autoclaved samples and in the incubator (lower OH-).  The only non-ideal component is the use of DMEM+10%FBS with high NaHCO3 (3.7 mg/mL).  Chips were RTP’ed at…

Another one of the questions I’ve been trying to answer with regard to endothelial cell vacuoles is whether membrane mechanics or permeability drive vacuole expression.  I’ve thought of several experimental designs to test this that haven’t worked (i.e., using very small volumes on the apical side to minimize permeability, using PDMS plugs to block the…

Ultimately we want to use SiN-NP filters to separate viruses or some other biological species, but repeated attempts to pass 20 nm fluorospheres in water or PBS have failed.  Au particles, however, have passed through the filters.  This post reports the results of Sarah and I attempting to pass Au particles from 20 to 100…