Harvard University, Department of Physics (US)
Slaven’s research in graphene nanopores has been featured in November 2010 issue of Nature as the cover story. You can read more information about that in Harvard press release. Also, The Nature Materials highlighted research paper on graphene growth method based on ion implantation and the BioTechniques featured Slaven’s work in their special news. The technology is also licensed to Oxford Nanopore Technologies to be used in development of graphene DNA sequencing.
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Summary of the interview:
Could you tell me about your area of research?
My research is about single molecule biophysics. More specifically I am looking into solid state nanopores as a way to detect single molecules and to characterize them and find their properties.
The topic is interesting because this specific method allows us to measure many molecules sequentially and hence make a statistical analysis of the physical and chemical states these molecules are taking.
Could you tell me briefly about Nanobiotechnology?
In a nutshell, nanobiotechnology is a usage of nanotechnology methods in order to probe basic biological systems on the level of biomolecules.
I tend to think that nanobio-technology is a way of making a solid state nano-equivalent of biological systems that can either be used to probe biological molecules or that can be combined with biological molecules in order to make hybrid systems which have a very defined function and can be used for medical purposes.
What is your talk topic and what issue does it try to solve?
My topic involves using nanopores in order to measure single molecules. I will place specific emphasis on graphene nanopores.
I am specifically trying to employ nanopores to characterize DNA molecules. The main goal is to detect each base, one after another, and use this method for inexpensive and fast DNA sequencing. The ability to sequence each person inexpensively, as a part of normal healthcare, could give rise to personal and preventive medicine.
How your research can be applied in industry?
Single molecule detection, especially nanopore detection, has many possible applications in the biomedical industry. One application is inexpensive DNA sequencing. Another is detection of different proteins.
