Research

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Our interests span a range of topics that are related with the Nanobiotechnology and and its application to the Food Science and other biological research. It includes the development of nanomaterials for the advancement of food system and human health. We are working on a variety of problems related with the synthesis of biocompatible nanomaterials, integration of these materials with biological molecules, and confer them specific functions that can be deliverable to our body through food system. Upon scaling down the size of macroscopic materials into nano scale, the physical principles that determine the overall property of the system changes, and we are utilizing this phenomenon to develop an advanced food materials.

Nanomaterials for Advanced Food System

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Nanotechnology shows great potentials for the advancement of food in near future, and thus positively contribute to public health.  Nanotechnology can provide effective tools to design smart food system for target specific delivery of various functions by enhancing solubility, improving bioavailability (absorbability), facilitating the controlled release and stabilizing sensitive micronutrients in food products. These nanomaterials are so small (few nanometer ~ hundreds nanometer) that they minimally affect, if any, the taste, flavor or sensory properties of food.  On the other hand, we can confer a specific characteristics to a certain food by releasing the contents of nanomaterials in highly controlled manner using external force (temperature, pH, electric fields or radio frequency). We are also designing food nanoingredients that resembles the physical properties of important food components, such as fat globule, proteins or starch granules, yet are low in calorie for diet food.

Developing Nanopore technology for Single

Molecule Detection and Bio-sensing

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Nanometer sized pore embeded in an insulating membrane is an excellent nanosensor for the electrical detection and characterization of biomolecules.  When a voltage bias is applied across the insulating membrane containing a nanopore that separates two ionic solution filled chamber, current will flow through the nanopore.  Negatively charged DNA molecules are drawn through the nanopore by the voltage bias and the ionic current through the nanopore is temporarily blocked during the time that DNA was in the pore.  In other word, the presence of a single translocating DNA molecule can be transduced into an electrical signal.  The duration and magnitude of transient blockade provide information about the structure of a single translocating molecule.  This single molecule approach makes it possible to examine individual molecular details that can not be achieved by ensemble-averaged method.  Although the detection and characterization of molecules by nanopore is single molecule methods, thousand of molecules can be examined in a few minutes and each electrical signal can readily be displayed in a scatterplot that represent all the events.  Following to those pioneering works, nanopore sensing is regarded as one of the potential future technologies for a rapid DNA sequencing.  Currently, we are working on developing LOC (Lab-on-a-Chip) type DNA sensor using the nanopore technology.