Nanotech gadget 'to diagnose' diseases

Washington, Jan 17, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) --
Scientists have developed a nanotech gadget which they claim could diagnose a number of diseases in a single liquid sample and give an instant result.

A team at Pennsylvania State University created the gadget, a microchip, by coating a series of nanowires with DNA sequences which match those from the disease-causing bacteria or viruses -- whether hepatitis or HIV.

According to the scientists, if DNA from one of those pathogens is present in a sample, it will bind to the nanowire with the matching sequence, a process that changes the wire's conductivity, the 'New Scientist' reported.

Source

'2-faced' bioacids cause nanotube self-asse

January 14, 2009: Nanotubes, the tiny honeycomb cylinders of carbon atoms only a few nanometers wide, are perhaps the signature material of modern engineering research, but actually trying to organize the atomic scale rods is notoriously like herding cats. A new study from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Rice University, however, offers an inexpensive process that gets nanotubes to obediently line themselves up -- that is, self-assemble -- in neat rows, more like ducks.

Read the full article at Small Times

PowerShares Lux Nanotech performance

PowerShares Lux Nanotech (ETF) (Public, NYSE:PXN) Chart:


The Nanotech ETF continues to have a poor performance, and should continue to follow the general markets until the current crisis is resolved.

Remember that effective and profitable Nanotechnology business is still a very long term investment.

Top Holdings on this ETF
(Fund Holdings subject to change)
Elan Corp. PLC (ADS) 8.23%
Flamel Technologies S.A. (ADS) 7.19%
Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. 6.39%
FEI Co. 6.30%
Veeco Instruments Inc. 6.13%
ShengdaTech Inc. 5.93%
Symyx Technologies Inc. 5.84%
Accelrys Inc. 5.31%
NVE Corp. 5.05%
Headwaters Inc. 4.86%

You can see this ETF details here.

Nanotechnology to make inexpensive solar cells more efficient

For nanotech to meet the need for cheap solar cells to produce electricity, it would be very useful to increase the absorption of light by inexpensive thin-film cells, which use a layer of polycrystalline silicon only 1-2 micrometers thick instead of the more expensive 200-300 micrometer-thick crystalline silicon wafers used for conventional solar cells. An open-access review article describes how a layer of nanoparticles of different sizes, compositions, and shapes enhances the efficiency of thin-film solar cells.

Full article here.