News and Updates

Displaying 1 - 23 of 23

Illustration of DNA molecules entering a tube with lightning bolt in foreground

New Technique for Measuring DNA Damage Could Improve Cancer Therapy and Radiological Emergency Response

August 21, 2025

The technology, which may someday be as portable as a smartphone, promises faster and more accurate measurements of radiation exposure, potentially saving lives...

NIST Scientists Use DNA Origami on a Chip to Detect Biomolecules

October 17, 2024

Using strands of DNA to create miniature hinges that pop open or shut when binding to specific molecules, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and...

Artist’s rendering of an organ-on-a-chip device

NIST-Led Working Group Developing Standards for Organ-on-a-Chip Research

February 22, 2024

When testing a new medicine, researchers must do more than assess how well that drug works. They also have to determine whether the medicine has some negative...

An illustrated anatomically correct human heart sits inside of a microchip, with its valves connecting to the microchip sensors.

Heart-on-a-Chip: A Microfluidic Marvel Shaping the Future of Cardiovascular Research

February 6, 2024

Researchers at NIST have developed bioelectronic devices capable of real-time measurements of cell behavior.

A graphical representation of a DNA biosensor device for clinical diagnostics that is the size and shape of a smartphone.

New DNA Biosensor Could Unlock Powerful, Low-Cost Clinical Diagnostics

January 24, 2023

The biosensor, developed by researchers at NIST, Brown University and the French research institute CEA-Leti, identifies biomarkers by measuring how binding...

New Device Design Brings Unparalleled Confidence to Cell Measurements

July 20, 2022

Measuring the numbers and properties of cells moving in a stream — a process called flow cytometry — is critically important to diagnostic medicine...

Not Letting It Slip By: NIST Discovery Could Increase Accuracy in Measuring Blood Flow for Cancer Diagnosis, Other Applications

March 22, 2022

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have discovered a potential source of error when using acoustic waves to measure the...

A woman wearing a face covering leans over a piece of scientific equipment, holding tweezers.

Spotlight: Inspiration Leading Nandita Abhyankar to NIST and Beyond

September 24, 2021

A passion undeterred — guest researcher (and former postdoc) Nandita Abhyankar took a detour between her graduate studies and current scientific endeavors, but...

Identifying Individual Molecules: NIST Study Suggests How to Build a Better ‘Nanopore’ Biosensor

April 27, 2021

Researchers have spent more than three decades developing and studying miniature biosensors that can identify single molecules. In five to 10 years, when such...

A new twist on measuring spin: NIST Develops Microresonator to Study Electron Spin in Small Volumes

November 17, 2020

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a device to detect a quantum property of electrons, known as spin, in...

NIST Goes With the (Slow) Flow: New Technique Could Improve Biotech, Precision Medicine

September 26, 2019

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed an optical system that accurately measures the flow of extraordinarily...

Probing the Origin of Alzheimer’s . . . with Transistors

August 7, 2019

A prime suspect in the onset of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases is a normally benign enzyme that is essential to proper development of the nervous system...

A Stopwatch for Nanofluids: NIST Files Provisional Patent Application for Measuring Nanoliter Flow Rates

January 17, 2018

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has filed a provisional patent application for a microflow measurement system, about the size of a...

Illustration showing lines of electrical force around an opening to a cell.

Scientists Channel Graphene to Understand Filtration and Ion Transport into Cells

December 8, 2017

Tiny pores at a cell’s entryway act as miniature bouncers, letting in some electrically charged atoms—ions—but blocking others. Operating as exquisitely...

Welcome Guests: Added Molecules Allow Metal-Organic Frameworks to Conduct Electricity

December 5, 2013

Scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Sandia National Laboratories have added something new to a family of engineered...

New Explanation for Key Step in Anthrax Infection Proposed by NIST and USAMRIID

August 20, 2013

A new hypothesis concerning a crucial step in the anthrax infection process has been advanced by scientists at the National Institute of Standards and...

Schematic showing association of two duplex precursors into a quadruplex fiber building block. Bottom: AFM image of quadruplex DNA nanofibers.

Stiffening the Backbone of DNA Nanofibers

July 23, 2013

An international collaboration including researchers from the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology and the Universidad San Francisco de Quito...

Temp-Controlled 'Nanopores' May Allow Detailed Blood Analysis

March 5, 2013

Tiny biomolecular chambers called nanopores that can be selectively heated may help doctors diagnose disease more effectively if recent research by a team at...

NIST Patent Could Give 'Lab on a Chip' Technology Long Shelf Life

January 8, 2013

Having blood drawn and analyzed to diagnose disease is a process that can take a few days, but what if your doctor could perform this analysis in moments, right...

False-color SEMs of cross-sectioned hematite films.

Researchers Determine Critical Factors for Improving Performance of a Solar Fuel Catalyst

October 3, 2012

Hydrogen gas that is created using solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen has the potential to be a cost-effective fuel source if the efficiency...

Schematic of an artificial membrane, across which a voltage forces an ionized fluid through the nanopore.

NIST, Columbia Engineering Collaborate on Inexpensive DNA Sequencing Method

October 2, 2012

Rapid, accurate genetic sequencing soon may be within reach of every doctor's office if recent research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology...

Nanopore-based single molecule mass spectrometry illustration

NIST Team Advances in Translating Language of Nanopores

June 23, 2010

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) scientists have moved a step closer to developing the means for a rapid diagnostic blood test that can...

Graphic showing a lipid bilayer membrane (blue) with an alpha-hemolysin nanopore

DNA Sieve: Nanoscale Pores Can Be Tiny Analysis Labs

May 10, 2007

Imagine being able to rapidly identify tiny biological molecules such as DNA and toxins using less than a drop of salt water in a system that can fit on a...

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