Scientists have developed a method, using a double layer of lipids, which facilitates the assembly of DNA origami units, bringing us one-step closer to DNA nanomachines.

Researchers have for the first time created and used a nanoscale vehicle made of DNA to deliver a CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool into cells in both cell culture and an animal model.

Before Ibuprofen can relieve your headache, it has to dissolve in your bloodstream. The problem is Ibuprofen, in its native form, isn’t particularly soluble. Its rigid, crystalline structures — the molecules are lined up like soldiers at roll call — make it hard to dissolve in the bloodstream. To overcome this, manufacturers use chemical additives to increase the solubility of Ibuprofen and many other drugs, but those additives also increase cost and complexity.

Scientists have used first-principles computer simulations to explain why small platinum nanoparticles are less effective catalysts than larger ones.

New cost-effective material which mimics natural ‘extracellular matrix’ has allowed scientists to capture previously unseen behavior in individual plant cells, including new shapes and interactions. New methods highlight potential developments for plant tissue engineering.

Researchers are using high-performance computing to simulate the processes that take place during the first moments of photosynthesis. Using quantum mechanics as the basis, computer scientists, physicists and chemists are working together to produce simulations of the molecule in which photosynthesis occurs.

Nanoengineers at the University of California, San Diego used an innovative 3-D printing technology they developed to manufacture multipurpose fish-shaped microrobots — called microfish — that swim around efficiently in liquids, are chemically powered by hydrogen peroxide and magnetically controlled. These proof-of-concept synthetic microfish will inspire a new generation of ‘smart’ microrobots that have diverse capabilities such as detoxification, sensing and directed drug delivery, researchers said.

Scientists have caught a glimpse of the elusive toxic form of the Alzheimer’s molecule, during its attempt to bore into the outer covering of a cell decoy, using a new method involving laser light and fat-coated silver nano-particles.

Researchers using a bioinorganic hybrid approach to artificial photosynthesis have combined semiconducting nanowires with select microbes to create a system that produces renewable molecular hydrogen and uses it to synthesize carbon dioxide into methane, the primary constituent of natural gas.

The first use of biological proteins to maneuver chemical polymers has created nerve-like structures that could serve as a gentler interface between nerves and prosthetic devices.