Biophotonics: Lighting the way

Dr. Andrea ArmaniCalifornia Institute of TechnologyAbstractFor many biological and chemical experiments, a sensor must have high sensitivity, high specificity, and fast response time. There are many technologies which are able to achieve one or two of these three requirements, but many still face fundamental sensitivity or response limitations.Silica optical resonators are able to overcome these limitations because of the high quality factor (Q). In their application as a single molecule sensor, the sensitivity is derived from the long photon lifetime inside the microcavity, and the specificity is derived from functionalization of the silica surface. During the initial series of label-free detection experiments, pure Interleukin-2 (IL-2) solutions were injected into the volume surrounding the microtoroid. The microtoroid successfully detected step-like shifts in resonance wavelength from individual IL-2 molecules binding. Additional experiments have shown that even in the more complex environment of serum individual binding events of IL-2 are still resolved. Therefore, this single molecule sensor will enable research in new areas of biophysics and cell biology.

Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Petra Pearce Sapir