Nanobiotechnology Based Analytical Approaches:
Self-Assembling Microarrays, Nanowires, and Nanoparticles as
Biosensors
Janos Vörös
Laboratory of Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Department of Information Technology and Electrical
Engineering, Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
voros@ethz.ch ; http://www.lbb.ethz.ch
The success of medical bioanalytical devices critically depends on the ability to interact with the
biological environment. The bioresponse is often determined by the properties of the biointerface
which requires the precise control of this interface on the micron- and nanometer scale. On the other
hand a living cell is a beautiful example of a highly sophisticated, controlled system of nature’s
nanomachines, proteins and other biomolecules, which self-assemble into various supramolecular
architectures and interact in a well-defined manner at the nanometer scale.
Recent advancements in nanotechnology have created a variety of top-down techniques that can
reach feature sizes of 100 nm or less, thus approaching a size range very relevant to biology. At the
same time a number of self-assembly based techniques have been developed and can be used to
create artificial nanostructures mimicking biological systems with similar or even superior
performance.1
The combination of these novel top-down and bottom-up approaches enables us to interact with
complex biological systems: tissues, cells, proteins and DNA in an unprecedented manner. In addition,
new tools, such as arrays of nanoparticles and nanowires can be created on a large scale with
promising applications in electronic and optical biosensing.
Examples for the handling of natural and artificial macromolecular complexes at the nanometer scale
will be presented. Proteins, vesicles, macromolecular assemblies, and nanoparticles specifically placed
onto predefined artificial patterns can trigger defined functions in cells, reveal the details of cellsurface interactions and allow for the ultimate miniaturization of array-type sensors down to the single
molecule level.
Recently, we have put a lot of efforts into achieving not only spatial but also a dynamic control over
the properties of biointerfaces. Surfaces that change upon external stimuli provide us with new
research tools for studying complex biological problems and for tissue engineering. Highlights for the
use of novel, electronically- or photo-active surfaces for applications in biosensing and local drug
delivery will also be presented.2,3
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References
1. J. Vörös, T. Blättler, M. Textor, MRS Bulletin, 30(3):202-206, 2005.
2. C.S. Tang, M. Dusseiller, S. Makohliso, M. Heuschkel, S. Sharma, B. Keller, J. Vörös; Analytical
Chemistry, 78:711-717, 2006.
3. B. Städler et al., Nanotechnology 18 (2007) 155306
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