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Category: nanotechnology

This new blood test could detect cancer before it shows up on scans

A new CRISPR-powered light sensor can detect the faintest molecular signs of cancer in a drop of blood. A new light-based sensor can spot incredibly tiny amounts of cancer biomarkers in blood, raising the possibility of earlier and simpler cancer detection. The technology merges DNAnanotechnology, CRISPR, and quantumdots to generate a clear signal from just a few molecules. In lung cancer tests, it worked even in real patient serum samples. Researchers hope it could eventually power portable blood tests for cancer and other diseases.

Scientists have designed a powerful light based sensor capable of detecting extremely small amounts of cancer biomarkers in blood. The innovation could eventually allow doctors to identify early warning signs of cancer and other diseases through a routine blood draw.

Biomarkers such as proteins, fragments of DNA, and other molecules can signal whether cancer is present, how it is progressing, or a person’s risk of developing it. The difficulty is that in the earliest stages of disease, these markers exist in extremely low concentrations, making them hard to measure with conventional tools.

Copper Single-Atoms Loaded on Molybdenum Disulphide Drive Bacterial Cuproptosis-Like Death and Interrupt Drug-Resistance Compensation Pathways

111. Wenqi Wang, Xiaolong Wei, Bolong Xu, Hengshuo Gui, Yan Yan*, Huiyu Liu* & Xianwen Wang* Nano-Micro Lett. 18,111 (2026).

This work is led by Prof. Dr. Xianwen Wang (Anhui Medical University) and co-workers. Prof. Wang’s research centers on burn wounds and tissue regeneration, burn infection, design and development of antimicrobial nanomaterials, development of anti-inflammatory nano-formulations and study on their anti-inflammatory mechanisms. This article develops copper single-atom-loaded MoS₂ nanozymes (Cu SAs/MoS₂) that combat drug-resistant bacteria through a triple mechanism of oxidative damage, cuproptosis-like death, and disrupted cell wall synthesis. Density functional theory reveals that Cu coordination enhances H₂O₂ adsorption, reducing activation energy by 17% and boosting peroxidase-like activity, while glutathione peroxidase-like activity disrupts redox homeostasis and inhibition of peptidoglycan synthesis blocks cell wall remodeling, collectively enabling efficient bacterial killing and decelerating resistance development.

Related articles: Cactus Thorn-Inspired Janus Nanofiber Membranes as a Water Diode for Light-Enhanced Diabetic Wound Healing https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-025-01904-z Synergistic Ferroptosis–Immunotherapy Nanoplatforms: Multidimensional Engineering for Tumor Microenvironment Remodeling and Therapeutic Optimization https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-025-01862-6 Wearable Ultrasound Devices for Therapeutic Applications https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-025-01890-2

The development of highly efficient and multifunctional nanozymes holds promise for addressing the challenges posed by drug-resistant bacteria. Here, copper single-atom-loaded MoS2 nanozymes (Cu SAs/MoS2) were developed to effectively combat drug-resistant bacteria by synergistically integrating the triple strategies of oxidative damage, cuproptosis-like death and disruption of cell wall synthesis. Density functional theory revealed that each Cu center coordinated with three sulfur ligands, enhancing the adsorption of H2O2, which reduced the activation energy of the key step by 17%, thereby improving peroxidase-like (POD-like) activity. The generation of reactive oxygen species in combination with Cu SAs/MoS2 glutathione peroxidase-like (GSH-Px-like) for glutathione scavenging resulted in an imbalance in redox homeostasis within bacteria.

Scientists Spin Molecules Inside a Frictionless Superfluid for the First Time

A newly designed optical centrifuge allows scientists to control molecular rotation inside superfluid helium nano-droplets. Physicists have developed a new version of an optical centrifuge that can control how molecules rotate while they are suspended inside liquid helium nano-droplets. The advan

Ribosome organization during stress!

“Surprisingly, the two ribosomes are not held together by proteins, as is common in bacteria. Instead, the connection is made by a specific piece of ribosomal RNA called an expansion segment”, explains one of the lead authors.

Expansion segments are long, flexible RNA “tentacles” that protrude from ribosomes and have grown larger over the course of evolution. Although they are a prominent feature of animal ribosomes, their functions only just started to emerge. This study now shows that one particular expansion segment, called “31b”, is both necessary and sufficient to link ribosomes together during stress. At the molecular level, the expansion segment forms a precise RNA-RNA interaction — a so-called “kissing loop” — in which identical RNA loops bind each other through complementary sequences. Disrupting this interaction prevents disome formation, stunts cellular growth and makes cells more sensitive to stress. Science Mission sciencenewshighlights.

Ribosomes, the cell’s protein-making factories, consume large amounts of energy as they build the proteins that keep cells alive and functioning. When cells experience stress — such as lack of nutrients or sudden drops in temperature — they quickly switch into survival mode. New research now reveals an unexpected way cells manage this transition: By pairing up inactive ribosomes using a ribosomal RNA link. This RNA-based mechanism reveals a previously unknown role for ribosomal RNA in the cellular stress response.

Ribosomes are large molecular machines made of protein and RNA that build all proteins in the cell. Because protein production is extremely energy-intensive, cells rapidly reduce protein synthesis when stressed. It has long been known that bacterial cells pair their inactive ribosomes into so-called “hibernating disomes” however, such structures had not previously been identified in animal cells.

Using advanced imaging techniques, the team discovered that stressed animal cells — including neurons — assemble inactive ribosomes into tightly linked pairs, known as disomes. These ribosome pairs are not accidental collisions or artifacts, but a regulated and reversible response to stress. The new study was published in Science.

Thermogenetics: How proteins are controllable by heat

Protein activity can be precisely regulated via subtle changes in temperature using heat-sensitive switches. Underlying this capability is a novel modular design strategy developed by researchers at the Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology of Heidelberg University. The strategy allows the integration of sensory domains in various proteins regardless of function or spatial structure.

This new approach in the field of thermogenetics is broadly applicable and opens up new possibilities for precise, non-invasive control of different cellular processes. It was developed by a research team led by Prof. Dr. Dominik Niopek and Dr. Jan Mathony and is published in Nature Chemical Biology

Proteins are the molecular machines of the cell. They regulate nearly all vital processes and their responses are highly dynamic. To better understand these processes and their chronological sequence, scientists need tools that can be used to change individual parameters precisely and in a controlled manner. The most suitable proteins are those that can be turned on and off like technical devices. Especially attractive in this context are heat-sensitive protein switches that tightly regulate the temperature spatiotemporally and are able to deeply penetrate tissue or complex biological samples as a signal.

‘Nano-origami’ reshapes liquid droplets into six-pointed stars

For the first time, researchers in France and Israel have observed how an emulsified liquid droplet can transform from a hexagon into a six-pointed star shape in response to rising temperature. Publishing their results in Physical Review Letters, a team led by Eli Sloutskin at Bar-Ilan University has shed new light on the mechanisms underlying this striking behavior, revealing a previously unseen form of “nano-origami,” that could inspire future generations of self-assembling nanostructures.

When tiny amounts of liquid are isolated, surface tension usually drives them to adopt a spherical shape—but over the past decade, researchers have uncovered far more complex behavior in emulsions of oil and water. In these systems, droplets are stabilized by surfactant molecules, which reduce the surface tension between the two liquids.

Under carefully controlled temperature changes, these droplets can undergo dramatic shape transformations. Previous studies have shown spheres turning into icosahedra, and then flattening into triangular, parallelogram or hexagonal, lens-like shapes with exclusively convex edges.

Poking a nanostring: Scientists uncover energy cascades in tiny resonators

Scientists at TU Delft have designed a nanostring that, when poked, doesn’t lose its energy to the environment immediately. Instead, the energy leaks out within the string, triggering a cascade of distinct vibrational modes. For the first time, researchers have observed this cascade reaching all the way up to the fifth mode, while only actuating the first mode.

This discovery offers new insights that could benefit the development of extremely sensitive sensors. The results have been published in Physical Review Letters.

“Imagine plucking a guitar string,” associate professor Farbod Alijani begins to explain. “Eventually its energy dissipates into its surroundings and the vibrations slowly die out.” The team engineered a nanoscale string that behaves in a very distinct manner.

Nanoparticle-Single-Atom Tandem Catalyst within a Metal–Organic Framework for Efficient Ethylene Electrosynthesis

Copper nanoparticles (Cu NPs) are effective catalysts for the electroreduction of CO2 (ECO2R) to multicarbon products but suffer from insufficient selectivity, aggregation, and deactivation. To address these challenges, we developed an in situ encapsulation strategy that engineers Cu NPs in a metal–organic framework (MOF) host from a simple one-pot hydrothermal synthesis, creating a selective and robust CO2R catalyst. The key design is the introduction of Sn additives during synthesis, which later evolve into single atoms (SAs) that serve a dual function: modulating the growth of Cu NPs from 3.35 to 9 nm and acting as active sites for the conversion of CO2 to CO. The locally generated CO then feeds adjacent Cu NPs, promoting subsequent C–C coupling via a tandem mechanism. The optimal catalyst, with a balanced Cu/Sn ratio, achieves a CO2-to-C2H4 Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 64%. Combined theoretical simulations and in situ infrared spectroscopy further reveal that Sn SAs promote Cu NPs electron transfer, enriching the electron density at active sites. This stabilizes *CO intermediates and reduces the energy barriers for CO2 activation and ensuing C–C coupling steps. This work presents a novel atomic- and nanoscale design strategy for advanced CO2RR catalysts.

New iron nanomaterial wipes out cancer cells without harming healthy tissue

Scientists at Oregon State University have engineered a powerful new nanomaterial that zeroes in on cancer cells and destroys them from the inside out. Designed to exploit cancer’s unique chemistry—its acidity and high hydrogen peroxide levels—the tiny iron-based structure sparks not one but two intense chemical reactions, flooding tumors with cell-damaging oxygen molecules. This dual attack overwhelms cancer cells with oxidative stress while sparing healthy tissue.

How Nanotech Made an Old Leukemia Drug 22,000x Stronger

Structural nanomedicine — what helped give us the COVID vaccine — may now be the key to a potent blood cancer treatment that’s had remarkable early results.

The findings, published in ACS Nano, show that just two doses of the experimental therapy achieved 97.5% tumor growth inhibition in a human AML xenograft mouse model — 59-fold more effective than standard 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) treatment, with no observable side effects.

For a disease with a grim 29% 5-year survival rate — and a cure rate of only 15% in patients older than 70 years — the findings offer a glimpse of how rethinking drug structure, not just chemistry, could advance cancer care.

Mirkin frames the findings within what he calls “the era of structural nanomedicine,” the idea that how you arrange medicinal components at the nanoscale matters as much as the molecules themselves.

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