For the second year in a row, a Northwestern researcher was recognized for making an impact in the microscopic world of nanotechnology.
Chemistry Prof. Chad Mirkin won the Feynman Prize for experimental nanotechnology last weekend for his explorations of DNA structure and nano-detection. The Foresight Institute, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based organization that aims to guide the development of new technologies to help the human condition, has sponsored the annual award since 1995.
“This award basically goes to people who did experiments to help understand what’s going on with the science and also practical applications for nanotechnology,” said chemistry Prof. Mark Ratner, who served on the award selection committee. “If you go by that definition, Chad is right at the top.”
Last year Ratner won the award for theoretical nanotechnology for his work on molecules’ capability to conduct electricity.
Potential winners are nominated by peers in the scientific community. Ratner said committee members chose Mirkin out of five finalists from prestigious private and public institutions.
“Most of these researchers were trying to develop new materials, but we thought Mirkin’s work was broader and deeper,” Ratner said.
Mirkin, who serves as director of NU’s Institute for Nanotechnology, said the award was an honor for him and for NU’s entire nanotechnology department.
“For two years in a row now we’ve had representation,” Mirkin said. “It’s a reflection of our institute and commitment (to nanotechnology).”
Mirkin’s research has focused on two main areas: using DNA as a “construction material” to make sensitive nano-sized detection devices and developing a method for writing on the nanoscale, called dip-pen nanolithography.
Mirkin said he still is exploring methods of using the double-helix structure of DNA to guide the construction of other molecules. Attaching gold particles to DNA strands, for example, allows researchers to use the DNA to build structures out of the gold particles.
The most imminent application for his award-winning technology will be for sensitive “point of care” medical diagnostic tests, for diseases such as strep throat that will be complete in the time of an office visit rather than a few days, Mirkin said.
Mirkin’s other main focus, dip-pen nanolithography, is a tool researchers will be able to use to write on or precisely apply materials to nano-sized objects. These objects can be as small as a nanometer, which is one billionth of a meter.
“That concept had simply not been recognized, and Chad was the one to make it come together,” said chemistry Prof. George Schatz, who has worked with Mirkin for the past six years.
Schatz said he is pleased NU received national recognition two years in a row.
“This is recognizing some really brilliant work that Chad has been doing for a very long time,” Schatz said. “I like to think of it as things we knew ourselves, but it’s nice to have outside recognition.”
