Nanoscale Probes Measure Signals Inside Cells | KurzweilAI

Nanoscale Probes Measure Signals Inside Cells | KurzweilAI: "Our use of these nanoscale field-effect transistors, or nanoFETs, represents the first totally new approach to intracellular studies in decades, as well as the first measurement of the inside of a cell with a semiconductor device,” says senior author Charles M. Lieber, the Mark Hyman, Jr. Professor of Chemistry at Harvard. “The nanoFETs are the first new electrical measurement tool for intracellular studies since the 1960s, during which time electronics have advanced considerably.”

Lieber and colleagues say nanoFETs could be used to measure ion flux or electrical signals in cells, particularly neurons. The devices could also be fitted with receptors or ligands to probe for the presence of individual biochemicals within a cell."