Nanochannels light the way towards new medicine
Photographer: Illustration: Chalmers University of Technology | Yen Strandqvist and Daniel Spacek, Neuron Collective
New microscopy method. The biomolecules the researchers want to study are placed in a chip consisting of tiny nano-sized tubes – nanochannels. Test fluid is added to the chip, which is mounted in an optical dark-field microscope and illuminated with visible light. The molecule appears as a dark shadow moving freely inside the channel on a screen connected to the microscope. The darkness of the shadow is proportional to the mass of the molecule. This is the result of an interference effect in the interaction of the light with the nanochannel and the molecule.