Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Cell signalling that is normally biochemically regulated can now be stimulated, with reversible and external control, by attaching magnetic nanoparticles to a cell surface and applying a magnetic field.
In vitro nanomechanical studies have shown that cultured cancer cells are elastically softer than healthy ones, and new measurements on cells from cancer patients suggest that this mechanical signature may be a powerful way to detect cancer in the clinic.
Experiments designed to pass the same DNA molecule through a solid-state nanopore many times will greatly improve the quality of single-molecule measurements.
Next-generation magnetic biosensors will be able to detect extremely low concentrations of proteins and other biomolecules in very small samples within just a few minutes.
The properties of materials reinforced by nanoparticles often fall far short of those predicted by theory, but now a layer-by-layer assembly approach offers a way in which nanocomposite materials could begin to realise their true potential.
Combining the optical properties of quantum dots with the ability of carbon nanotubes to carry pharmaceutical cargos could prove highly beneficial in the field of drug delivery.
Theoretical physicists have predicted that ultrashort laser pulses can be used to drive electrical currents through single molecules, and also to stop currents in molecular junctions.
Two groups have used scanning tunnelling microscopes to explore the behaviour of magnetic materials in exquisite detail with a view to developing new approaches to data storage.
Linking individual molecular building blocks with covalent bonds leads to new surface-based nanostructures, which could open up new possibilities for molecular electronics.
A computational study shows how a precise arrangement of charges on the surface of a nanotube can push water molecules in single file from one end to the other.
Carbon nanoparticles are a by-product of making carbon nanotubes in an arc melter and have potentially useful optical properties. A recent discovery shows that these particles can be obtained by simply lighting a candle.
Researchers have combined carbon nanotubes and nanoporous cellulose to make lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors that are both lighter and more flexible than existing devices.
It is possible to modify the electronic structure of a naturally patterned gold surface in potentially useful ways by allowing layers of silver or copper atoms to self-assemble into arrays of nanostructures.
Researchers have shown that it is possible to control the coupling between two quantum dots in a semiconducting nanowire, and also to count the charges on these dots with a third quantum dot in a different nanowire.
