| Physicists
and biologists at Bristol University are using the way
that insects hear to devise new instruments for use
in nanoscience. Using these new tools will then allow
them to look even closer at how insects hear. This unusual
symbiotic relationship between physicists and biologists
means each helps the other’s science to progress.
The Atomic Force Microscope
is the main tool used to obtain images at the atomic
scale. Likened to an old fashioned record player,
it has an ‘arm’ that houses a highly sensitive probe.
Much like a stylus bumping around in the groove of
a record, the probe moves across the specimen, mapping
its shape by ‘feeling’ the bumps. The result is a
three-dimensional map of the specimen’s surface. However,
when examining delicate biological material, such
as DNA, there is a risk that the probe might damage
it.
By collaborating with colleagues
in the Biology Department, Professor Mervyn Miles
and his researchers in Physics have used the Atomic
Force Microscope to ‘see’ the ways in which insects
such as locusts and moths use their hearing systems
to detect very faint vibrations. Understanding how
this happens has helped them devise more sensitive
instruments, with which to ‘see’ delicate biological
materials.
Professor Daniel Robert from
Biological Sciences said: “We actually borrow their
tools to study our insects. In return, by understanding
how biological systems have evolved to detect these
tiny vibrations, technologists understand how to devise
better instruments to detect vibrations.”
Nanotechnology draws on aspects
of chemistry, physics, engineering, computer science
and the various bio-disciplines. The past few years
have seen an enormous expansion in our ability to
manipulate the structures and properties of complex
materials at the atomic level.
Recognition of the excellence
of the work being done in this area at the University
of Bristol has resulted in an Interdisciplinary Research
Centre in Nanotechnology being jointly awarded to
the universities of Bristol, Cambridge and University
College London by the joint research councils, the
Ministry of Defence and the Department of Trade and
Industry. It is funded with £10 million for
six years and has already attracted substantial further
funding.
Interdisciplinarity is key
to nanoscience research and is central to the philosophy
of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Nanotechnology.
Professor Miles said: “The excitement that we’ve had
by working with biologists can be reproduced by bringing
together chemists, engineers and mathematicians, into
the new centre. There we will create new ideas and
new directions and the whole process will occur at
a much more rapid pace.”
A short newsclip featuring
this work can be seen at www.research-tv.com/stories/technology/smarttech.Several
groundbreaking discoveries have already spawned the
creation of the University spin-out company, Infinitesima.
University of Bristol, Senate
House,
Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TH, UK - Tel: +44 (0)117
928 9000
|
