Quantum Dots Capture First Movies of Cells ‘Talking’
March 2, 2004 | Source: KurzweilAI
Researchers at Max Planck Institute in Germany have used quantum dots to capture the first-ever movies of cells transmitting the messages that control genes. The breakthrough is expected to help pharmaceutical companies speed and enhance the process of screening candidate cancer drugs.
The quantum dot conjugates work by seeking out and bonding with target materials and emitting light. Older imaging tools such as fluorescent dyes or polymer spheres fade too quickly — within a matter of seconds — to capture lengthy video images of living cells. The quantum dots, by contrast, let the researchers see multiple cell elements for minutes or hours at a time.
The full text of the Nature Biotechnology article (“Quantum dot ligands provide new insights into erbB/HER receptor-mediated signal transduction”) is available.