The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative conference "Designing Nanostructures at the Interface Between Biomedical and Physical Systems" will bring together approximately 100 of the nation's top researchers to discuss the emerging science of nanotechnology Nov. 19-21 at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center in Irvine, Calif. Kurt Krause, associate professor of biology and biochemistry at UH, and Rigoberto Advincula, associate professor of chemistry at UH, are two of only 12 researchers from the Gulf Coast area invited to attend the conference.

"The organizers of the Futures Initiative were particularly interested in my background on modifying surfaces with polyelectrolytes and dendrimers for the controlled adsorption and capture of DNA and proteins," Advincula said. "We are looking at applying these methods for microfluidic devices and biosensors."

Coming a long way from applications in such mundane gadgets as ink-jet printers, microfluidic devices one of Advincula's specialties now hold potential for pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, defense, public health and agriculture. This next generation of applications shows the flexibility of these devices that will be crucial to their commercial viability. Another of Advincula's research projects involves biosensors that can detect toxins and bacteria in an environment, ultimately leading to uses in diagnostic health care and biological/chemical detection.

Presenting some of his latest breakthroughs in the fight against HIV, Krause will present research on the design of proteins that can split DNA made by pathogenic organisms, which will produce nanomachines that could be used to combat latent infections caused by viruses li
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Contact: Lisa Merkl
lkmerkl@uh.edu
713-743-8192
University of Houston
15-Nov-2004