SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
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UC Irvine chemistry center nets $20 million grant
The National Science Foundation award will be used to record time-lapse images of single molecules.
By Kristen SchottPublished: August 16, 2009 09:54 AM
UC Irvine's Chemistry at the Space-Time Limit center has received a $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation to boost the study of the inner workings of single molecules.
The move is a positive one for the field of nanoscience. The facility – which is one of three NSF Centers for Chemical Innovation – and its scientists hope to become the first to record time-lapse images of single molecules. Because of the small size and time scales of these molecules, according to UCI, this has been difficult to achieve in the past. But, if the program is successful, it would speed up the pace of nanoscience, which is driving the miniaturization of technologies, such as computers, radios and satellites.
"If you can see a single molecule in action, then you can intervene, control and direct what it does," says UCI chemist V. Ara Apkarian, who is also the center's director.
The university is paving the way for this advancement, he continues.
"We're starting to image the motion of molecules, and we've developed methods that sense motion on length scales smaller than the nucleus of an atom."
A video-capture rate of 1 million billion frames per second is necessary to record molecules. Each frame must be taken with magnification that is 10,000 greater than the most advanced optical microscope in the market today, according to UCI, which also says its researchers are building instruments that will be able to achieve this feat.
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The move is a positive one for the field of nanoscience. The facility – which is one of three NSF Centers for Chemical Innovation – and its scientists hope to become the first to record time-lapse images of single molecules. Because of the small size and time scales of these molecules, according to UCI, this has been difficult to achieve in the past. But, if the program is successful, it would speed up the pace of nanoscience, which is driving the miniaturization of technologies, such as computers, radios and satellites. "If you can see a single molecule in action, then you can intervene, control and direct what it does," says UCI chemist V. Ara Apkarian, who is also the center's director. The university is paving the way for this advancement, he continues. "We're starting to image the motion of molecules, and we've developed methods that sense motion on length scales smaller than the nucleus of an atom." A video-capture rate of 1 million billion frames per second is necessary to record molecules. Each frame must be taken with magnification that is 10,000 greater than the most advanced optical microscope in the market today, according to UCI, which also says its researchers are building instruments that will be able to achieve this feat. NEXT PAGE >> Related headlines Seal Beach-based DTS garners U.S. Air Force grant Waypharm USA launches in Laguna Beach Aliso Viejo's Avanir announces positive study results |
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