DNA samples often convict criminals. But many of today's forensic tests are so polluted by soil, tobacco and food remains, for example, that they can not be used. Now researchers in Sweden have improved a critical part of the analysis process. The first findings indicate that the new method strengthens the DNA analysis so that previously negative samples yield positive and usable DNA profiles.

Dr. Michael Kaschke, Member of the Carl Zeiss AG Executive Board and President and CEO of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, has been appointed an Honorary Professor in the Faculty for Electrotechnology and Information Technology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

Next month in San Jose, CA, the AVS 56th International Symposium and Exhibition will showcase a spectrum of science and engineering research that is leading to breakthroughs in nanotechnology, alternative energy, materials research, and medicine - from fuel cells and batteries of the future to programmable materials and innovative approaches to drug design.

Clarkson University recently hosted high school students from Colton-Pierrepont Central School for a Nanotechnology Day.

Duke University bioengineers have developed a simple and inexpensive method for loading cancer drug payloads into nano-scale delivery vehicles and demonstrated in animal models that this new nanoformulation can eliminate tumors after a single treatment.

A Spanish-US team of researchers has used a groundbreaking method to replicate the wings of butterflies and the colours of insects on a nanometric scale. The resulting technology has great potential to be used in a wide range of optical structures such as diffusers for solar panels or optical sensors.

The advances made in nanotechnology, particularly with respect to the biological and medical fields, are a testament to the herculean leaps made in nanotechnology in a short period of time, according to medical experts.

The EU's three-year FoXy programme has come to an end. The research group is very satisfied, and the EU Commission is handing out praise.

Die LMU-Biophysiker Professor Dieter Braun und Franz Weinert haben eine 'nichtinvasive' optische Molekuelfalle entwickelt.

Traditional techniques in cell biology involve chemical or pharmaceutical treatments of entire cells; however, in many cases it would be advantageous to target a single organelle or other structure within a cell without damaging overall cell structure. If scientists could inject a drug into a chosen organelle within the cell, or even destroy, extract or isolate the whole organelle without significantly harming the cell itself, new insight could be gained into the inner workings of the cell. In recent years, techniques have been developed which allow the manipulation of the individual nanoscale structures within biological cells. This manipulation, or 'nanosurgery', has the potential to provide new insight into the internal structure and dynamics of cells. Nanosurgical methods have been developed to target the cell's internal organelles, the cell membrane, and the structural protein filaments within the cell.