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• Smartphone Transforms into Microscope with 3D-Printed
Clip-On
Australian researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for
Nanoscale BioPhotonics (CNBP) have developed a 3D printable
“clip-on” that can turn any smartphone into a fully functional microscope. Reported in the research journal Scientific Reports, the
smartphone microscope is powerful enough to visualize specimens
as small as 1/200th of a millimeter, including microscopic organisms, animal and plant cells, blood cells, cell nuclei, and more.
The clip-on technology is unique in that it requires no external
power or light source to work yet offers high-powered microscopic
performance in a robust and mobile handheld package. And the
researchers are making the technology freely available, sharing
the 3D printing files publicly so anyone — from scientists to the
scientifically curious — can turn their own smartphones into microscopes. The researchers believe the technology has immense
potential as a scientific tool, one that is ideal for use in remote
areas and for field-work where larger standalone microscopes are
unavailable or impractical.
https://www.cemag.us/news/2018/02/smartphone-transforms-
microscope-3d-printed-clip
• Nanorobots Seek Out, Obliterate Tumors
In a major advancement in nanomedicine, Arizona State University scientists, in collaboration with researchers from the National Center for Nano-science and Technology (NCNST) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences,
have successfully programmed nanorobots to shrink tumors by cutting
off their blood supply. The successful demonstration of the technology
is a first-of-its-kind study in mammals utilizing breast cancer, melanoma,
ovarian, and lung cancer mouse models. In the past two decades, DNA
origami has developed atomic-scale manufacturing to build more and
more complex structures. The bricks to build their structures come from
DNA, which can self-fold into all sorts of shapes and sizes — all at a
scale 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair — in the hopes
of one day revolutionizing computing, electronics and medicine. That “one
day” may be coming a bit faster than anticipated.
https://www.cemag.us/news/2018/02/nanorobots-seek-out-
obliterate-tumors
Cleanroom Supervisor in Meningitis
Case Sentenced to Eight Years
Glenn Chin, the supervisory pharmacist said to be
involved in a deadly nationwide meningitis outbreak,
was sentenced to eight
years in prison on Jan. 31.
Jurors in the federal trial
found Chin not guilty of
second-degree murder on
Oct. 25, 2017, but convicted him of racketeering
and mail fraud charges,
and scheduled his sentencing trial for January 2018. The prosecution asked for a
35-year sentence, whereas Chin’s attorneys requested three
years. Chin supervised the cleanrooms at the New England
Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass., which closed
in 2012 after a fungal meningitis outbreak caused by tainted
steroid injections killed 64 people in nine states and sickened
more than 700 others. Chin had faced federal charges of
second-degree murder in connection with the deaths of 25
people who were injected with the mold-contaminated steroids. The prosecution accused him of allowing lax cleanroom
practices and ignoring unsafe and unprofessional conduct by
cleanroom workers.
Read more: https://www.cemag.us/news/2018/01/cleanroom-
supervisor-meningitis-case-sentenced-eight-years
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• Graphene Membrane Makes Sydney Harbour Water
Drinkable
Using their own specially designed form of
graphene, “Graphair,”
CSIRO scientists have
supercharged water
purification, making it
simpler, more effective,
and quicker. The new
filtering technique is
so effective, water
samples from Sydney
Harbour were safe
to drink after passing
through the filter. While
graphene is the world’s
strongest material and can be just a single carbon atom thin, it
is usually water repellent. Using their Graphair process, CSIRO
researchers were able to create a film with microscopic na-no-channels that let water pass through, but stopped pollutants.
As an added advantage Graphair is simpler, cheaper, faster,
and more environmentally friendly than graphene to make. It
consists of renewable soybean oil, more commonly found in
vegetable oil.
https://www.cemag.us/news/2018/02/graphene-membrane-
makes-sydney-harbour-water-drinkable
Exclusives
Image: The Associated Press
Dr. Dong Han Seo collecting a water sample from
Sydney Harbour. Image: CSIRO
Cells being viewed by an add-on
clip that turns a smartphone into
a fully operational microscope.
Image: ARC Centre of Excellence for
Nanoscale BioPhotonics
The treatment blocked tumor blood supply and generated tumor tissue damage
within 24 hours while having no effect on healthy tissues. Image: Courtesy of
ASU Biodesign Institute
March/April 2018 • www.cemag.us
