Deb Newberry, Director of the Nano-Link program at Dakota County Technical College, MN, talks about the exciting area where nanotechnology and biotechnology converge.
1. Nanotechnology: The ability to observe, measure, study and create at the molecular and atomic level.
2. Atomic (electronic) structure Molecular structure Physical characteristics Electrical characteristics Biological characteristics Why is understanding the molecular or atomic level structure of a material important?
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4. Tools of Nanoscience System and interaction understanding Bio mimicry Diagnosis Treatment Biological Systems Nano materials
The reason is that everything is made up of atoms – which we can now observe, study and manipulate. Those atoms form molecules – which again we can observe, study and manipulate. Atomic and molecular structure will determine the physical, electrical and biological characteristics and properties of all materials.
These new tools include the 1) Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), the 2) Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and 3) the mechanical measurement nanoindentation machine….these tools allow us to observe, study, measure and even manipulate materials at the nanoscale. We can now observe individual atoms – something only dreamed about for centuries.
