Home > News > Bioelectric Nanotube Transistor Could Bring Biology and Machines Closer Together
May 18th, 2010
Bioelectric Nanotube Transistor Could Bring Biology and Machines Closer Together
Abstract:
Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab have taken a big step toward bridging the gap between mind and machine. Using ATP - adenosine triphosphate, the molecular medium of energy exchange present in nearly all living cells - the team has created a novel transistor that could allow electronic devices that can be hooked directly into the nervous system.
The transistor, which creator Aleksandr Noy calls the first integrated bioelectronic system, consists of a carbon nanotube stretched between two electrodes that is wrapped in an insulator at both ends but exposed in the middle. The transistor is then wrapped in a lipid bi-layer akin to those that surround the cells that make up our bodies. When the team applied voltage to the electrodes and poured a solution full of ATP and potassium and sodium ions over the transistor, current flowed from electrode to electrode.
Source:
popsci.com
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