IBN Paper is Chemistry of Materials’ Most Accessed Article in 2007

IBN's paper on "Synthesis of Water-Soluble and Functionalized Nanoparticles by Silica Coating" by Dr Nikhil R. Jana, Christopher Earhart and Prof Jackie Y. Ying, which was published in Chemistry of Materials (October 2007), has been named the most-accessed articles in 2007. This paper describes IBN's silica-coating procedure for various hydrophobic nanoparticles, including Au, Ag, Fe3O4 and ZnS-CdSe. Previously, nanoparticles of metals, metal oxides and quantum dots that have been synthesized in organic solvents using existing methods have limited applications as they lack water solubility and tailored surface chemistry. IBN's silica-coating method provides a solution to these problems by producing water-soluble and functionalized nanoparticles. This approach is applicable to hydrophobic nanoparticles that range in size from 2 to 20 nm. IBN's silica-coated nanoparticles are 10 to 30 nm in size, water-soluble, buffer-stable, and have a positive or negative surface charge depending on the surface functional group and solution pH. These coated particles have primary amine groups on the outer surface and are further functionalized with biotin and antibody.

IBN’s Peptide Nanoparticles on Cover of Advanced Functional Materials
 

A paper on Self-assembled Cationic Peptide Nanoparticles Capable of Inducing Efficient Gene Expression In Vitro by IBN researchers Nikken Wiradharma, Majad Khan, Yen Wah Tong, Shu Wang and Yi-Yan Yang has been featured on the cover of Advanced Functional Materials (March 25, 2008). This paper illustrates IBN’s original use of self-assembled cationic micelles to form peptide nanoparticles that are capable of gene delivery. These cubic core-shell nanoparticles have an effective diameter of 700-900 nm, with a zeta potential of 18 to 20 mV. The formation of nanoparticles increases the local concentration of cationic charge in the solution, leading to improved DNA binding ability and better protection from enzymatic degradation compared to the control. IBN’s peptide-based carriers are also much smaller and less cytotoxic than the control. Gene expression levels mediated by these novel carriers are comparable to that of PEI. Made from biodegradable and biocompatible peptides, IBN’s cationic nanoparticles have potential to be used as carriers in gene delivery. Refer to Advanced Functional Materials 18 [6] (2008) 943 for more details.

IBN-led Team Wins Borderless Award
 

A multi-agency team led by IBN Senior Research Scientist, Dr Juergen Pipper, has won the 2008 A*STAR Borderless Award for its work on developing a miniaturized device that can detect the H5N1 avian flu virus 10 times faster and up to 100 times cheaper than available tests. This portable device will potentially enable medical or humanitarian workers to confirm the presence of the H5N1 virus from throat swab samples in less than half an hour, thus facilitating the development of early and preventive strategies to avert the spread of a large epidemic [Nature Medicine 13 (2007) 1259]. The multidisciplinary, international team comprises researchers from IBN, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology and Genome Institute of Singapore, IBN Youth Research Program attachment students, as well as staff from Exploit Technologies, the commercialization arm of A*STAR. This A*STAR award recognizes exemplary teamwork through active cross-agency collaboration, and the recipients will be nominated for the Ministry of Trade and Industry MTI Borderless Award.

Prof Jackie Ying in New Role as First Editor-in-Chief of Nano Today
 

IBN Executive Director Professor Jackie Y. Ying has been appointed the first Editor-in-Chief of Nano Today. Nano Today is published by Elsevier and was founded in 2006 as the only publication dedicated to reviews of nanoscience and nanotechnology.
 

Elsevier is the world's leading publisher of science and health information and serves over 30 million scientists, students and health and information professionals around the world. Nano Today's new editorial board led by Professor Ying will build on the publication's unrivalled position to continue to provide the international nano research community with the latest scientific breakthroughs in these areas, as well as expert opinions from leaders in the field.

In 2008, Nano Today will publish three double issues on the self-assembly of nanoparticles and their use in biosensing and diagnostics, the synthesis, purification and basic physical properties of carbon nanotubes and nanowires. From 2009, Nano Today will issue six print editions per year and be known as Nano Today: An International Rapid Reviews Journal, and all its articles will be made available on ScienceDirect, Elsevier's electronic delivery platform.

"No one could be better placed than Jackie Ying to lead Nano Today into the future," said Cordelia Sealy, Managing Editor of Nano Today. "As executive director of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore and adjunct professor of chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she is uniquely placed at the intersection of the many disciplines that make nanoscience and nanotechnology both so unique and fascinating."

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Visit the Nano Today website.

IBN’s Nano-Bio Kits in New York’s MoMA Exhibition
 

Educational kits developed by IBN to help teachers convey complex scientific concepts to their students have been selected for display at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. The MoMA exhibition, Design and the Elastic Mind, explores the relationship between science and design in contemporary life. IBN’s Nano-Bio Kits, which will be featured in the MoMA exhibition, are the Biological Fuel Cell Kit, Thermo-Responsive Hydrogel Kit and the Dielectrophoresis Chip Kit. These teaching aids introduce students to bioengineering and nanotechnology concepts, and their practical use in alternative energy, drug delivery, diagnostics and drug discovery. IBN’s Nano-Bio Kits have previously been exhibited in Japan’s Miraikan Museum. IBN Director and Chair of its Youth Research Program, Noreena AbuBakar is "delighted that our Kits have been selected by MoMA for its new exhibition, which recognizes designs that help people to understand and use scientific concepts. We hope that this exhibition will expose the Nano-Bio Kits to a wider audience." The MoMA exhibition opens in New York from February 24 to May 12, 2008.

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