Nanotechnology Approaches to Biotechnology, Medicine, and Sustainability
Nanotechnology Approaches to Biotechnology, Medicine, and Sustainability
Biology functions at the nanoscale. Thus, there are special opportunities not only to make biological measurements using nanotechnology but also to interact directly in order to influence biological outcomes. In this talk, Dr. Paul S. Weiss will describe how his team fabricates and uses nanostructures to advance high-throughput gene editing for cellular therapies targeting genetic diseases and cancer immunotherapy. His team also uses microfluidics and functionalized nanostructured features in the selective capture, probing, and release of single circulating tumor cells in liquid biopsies in order to diagnose cancers and to assess the efficacy of treatments. They exploit molecular recognition and phase transitions to create molecular treadmills to grow three-dimensional co-cultured organoids efficiently. They exploit supramolecular assembly, acoustofluidics, specific surface functionalization, and plasmonics to enable these processes.
Nanoscience and nanotechnology developed from engineering, chemistry, physics, biology, medicine, toxicology, and a host of other fields. Along the way, experts in these fields taught each other their problems, challenges, and approaches. The interdisciplinary communication skills that were developed and are now part of our training remain unique to the field. As a result, nanoscience and nanotechnology contribute to a wide range of other fields, such as neuroscience, the microbiome, oncology, regenerative medicine, healthcare disparities, cellular agriculture, and more.
About Paul S. Weiss
Paul S. Weiss is a nanoscientist and holds a UC Presidential Chair and is a distinguished professor of chemistry & biochemistry, bioengineering, and materials science & engineering at UCLA, where he was previously director of the California NanoSystems Institute. He currently holds visiting appointments at Harvard’s Wyss Institute and several universities in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, and Korea. He studies the ultimate limits of miniaturization, developing and applying new tools and methods for atomic-resolution and spectroscopic imaging and patterning of chemical functionality. He and his group apply these advances in other areas including neuroscience, microbiome studies, tissue engineering, cellular agriculture, high-throughput gene editing, liquid biopsies, and personalized medicine. He led, coauthored, and published the technology roadmaps for the BRAIN Initiative and the U.S. Microbiome Initiative. He was the founding editor-in-chief of ACS Nano and served in that role from 2007–2021. He has won awards in science, engineering, teaching, publishing, and communications. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, AAAS, ACS, AIMBE, APS, AVS, Canadian Academy of Engineering, IEEE, MRS, National Academy of Inventors, and an honorary fellow of the Chinese Chemical Society and Chemical Research Society of India.