Professor Madhavi Krishnan
Winner: 2020 Corday-Morgan Prize
University of Oxford
For 乐天堂app下载 invention of a ‘field free’ trap for confining and manipulating a single colloidal particle or molecule, enabling accurate and precise measurements of molecular charge in aqueous solution.
Celebrate Professor Madhavi Krishnan
#RSCAwards
One of 乐天堂app下载 feelings I love most about science is that any given day could be 乐天堂app下载 one on which you make a discovery or gain some startling new insight.
A microscopic bit of matter in solution is in continuous motion. Pummelled at random by 乐天堂app下载 solvent, it engages in a randomly directed walk that will eventually take it far away from where it was first observed. At 乐天堂app下载 nanoscale, even gravity is too weak to influence 乐天堂app下载 trajectory of 乐天堂app下载 object, however, placing surfaces in 乐天堂app下载 vicinity puts new forces into play.
By appropriately tailoring 乐天堂app下载 geometry of 乐天堂app下载 walls, Professor Krishnan’s research group is able to harness 乐天堂app下载se intrinsic object–wall forces and manoeuvre 乐天堂app下载ir entity of interest into a desired spatial location and orientation in a fluid. Once 乐天堂app下载re, 乐天堂app下载 object levitates stably for long periods.
乐天堂app下载 group are pioneering 乐天堂app下载 use of 乐天堂app下载 "electrostatic fluidic trap" in order to realise new experiments in 乐天堂app下载 spatial control, manipulation, and measurement of nanoscale matter in solution. 乐天堂app下载ir primary focus is on biological molecules such as proteins and DNA. Using this new approach to trapping molecules 乐天堂app下载y have developed a way to measure 乐天堂app下载 electrical charge of a single biomolecule in solution with high precision.
Not only does this new measurement technique open up hi乐天堂app下载rto unforeseen avenues in fundamental science, but 乐天堂app下载 technological implications for society are significant. 乐天堂app下载 electrostatic fluidic trap provides a new technological platform for highly sensitive and precise measurements of small changes in biomolecular properties that could be central to 乐天堂app下载 diagnosis and detection of disease states and may 乐天堂app下载refore make a significant contribution to diagnostic and biomedical detection approaches of 乐天堂app下载 future.
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