Biomedical researchers and clinicians already have access to tools that only existed in science fiction novels not too long ago. Some of these tools offer a better or cheaper way to carry out existing tests or diagnoses. But life scientists in collaboration with technologists can also shape new tools that open up novel avenues of research.

David Sretavan, M.D., Ph.D., would love to see new collaborations between UCSF medical school faculty and technologists. That's why he organized the daylong symposium to introduce UCSF faculty and students to the state of nano and microtechnology. The symposium, to be held in the Genentech Hall auditorium on April 17, is co-organized by Mike Isaacson, Ph.D. of UC Santa Cruz and Luke Lee, Ph.D., of UC Berkeley.

"Nano and microtechnology will have a huge impact on medicine and biology," says Sretavan, "the faculty should be more aware of these new technologies."

The symposium brings together leading researchers in nano and microtechnologies to highlight new research that enables the manipulation and analysis of nanometer and micron sized objects. Working at the same scale as single cells and individual molecules opens up a new horizon for biological research and clinical care.

UCSF medical researchers like Sretavan are already adopting tools to work at the micro and nano scale into their research. Sretavan uses a micro-knife to study how nerves react to injuries. His 10-micron knife cuts more cleanly than his older cutting tools, and the results are more repeatable. Through these studies, he can learn how growing nerve pathways are formed during development, and may also glean clues about restoring nerve function following disease or injury.

Sretavan also mentions an exciting example of novel use of this technology that will be presented at the April 17 symposium by Dr. Peter Gascoyne, BSc, Ph.D., of the Center for Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. The technology is a micro device with an integrated cell sorter that can separate two or more types of cells from a mixture. Unlike other sorting techniques, this sorter is inexpensive, easy to set up, and does not require that the cells first be labeled with chemicals to distinguish them from each other. The micro-sorter works by "dielectrophoresis," which uses the intrinsic differences in how cells respond to non-uniform electric fields to sort small samples. The micro-sorter can be used to separate bioparticles such as cells, bacteria, parasites, viruses, chromosomes, DNA and proteins. One application of this device is to quickly diagnose cancer by weeding out cancerous cells from a biopsy.

Another diagnostic application of nano and microtechnology is coming to the lab of Radiology chair Ron Arenson, M.D.. He is developing a very small catheter with a novel steering device that can access much smaller blood vessels than can current catheters. He works with scientists at Lawrence Livermore Labs who fabricate the 0.33-millimeter catheters using an etching technique similar to the process used to create the millions of tiny wires on a computer chip.

Arenson foresees the expansion of the catheter's uses as micro-tools are incorporated into the tip of the catheter. A tiny needle at the tip, for example, would allow a doctor to take very specific biopsies, or to inject drugs to a precise area.

Sretavan sees nano and microtechnology as an untapped resource for medical researchers and clinicians. "It's like a solution looking for a problem," he says. Technologists are looking for new directions and applications for their tools, and Sretavan hopes the upcoming symposium will provide a forum to bring researchers together in fruitful collaborations.

Source: Beth Martin