Nanotechnology with Proteins

Individual living cells are generally of the order of a few micrometers in diameter and hence are not 'nanoscale' objects in their own right. However, the structures within the cell and cell membrane are certainly nano-sized. Of course, there is a very large research effort around the world devoted to living cells and biology in general. The Institute has elected to focus on the very much narrower twin topics of ion channel proteins as inserted into artificial lipid membranes and on gold-protein interactions. In each case the objective is to identify interesting and useful systems and applications. However, the topics are not disjunct, and already conjoin in various commercial concepts for nanotech bio-sensors, for example the pioneering AMBRI biosensor developed in Australia.