Living nanoelectronics

The first bionanotransistor was createdMembrane based on materials ScienceDaily
By combining biological components at the molecular level with nanoscale conductors, scientists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have obtained a transistor that takes advantage of some properties of living systems.

The authors of the new work were inspired by cell membranes with virtuoso molecular mechanisms for the perception and transmission of signals. In some aspects, these living systems are superior to modern electronics. The Americans built their transistor by coating a silicon nanofilament with a double lipid layer. It formed an impenetrable barrier between the nanowire and the solution surrounding the system.

Alamethycin molecules were also embedded in the biological membrane. These peptides formed ion channels. By changing the voltage on the device (on the gate), its creators were able to influence the transport of protons through the alamethycin "gate", opening and closing these pores in the membrane at will, which, in turn, affected the current through the conductor. (In the diagram of the bionanotransistor: the dark gray core is a silicon conductor, the double lipid layer is shown in blue, the peptide ion channels are shown in purple.)

Although researchers have previously tried to connect living systems with electronic ones (for example, by switching neurons and living cells with microcircuits), no one has done it on such a small spatial scale. The creators of the bionanoelectronic device believe that it will be useful in biological research, in the construction of medical bioelectronic implants and diagnostic systems, and also, perhaps, in computing machines of the future.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru11.09.2009