Into Nanomechanical Action Array of tiny cantilevers imaged by scanning electron microscopy. The cantilevers bend by docking of molecules. We have discovered a new approach to transforming specific biochemical recognition into a nanomechanical motion.
Hybridization is a prominent example of molecular recognition.
Each cantilever is coated on one side by specific biomolecules. When immersed in solution, molecules of an injected substance dock to a layer of receptor molecules that have been attached to one side of the cantilever. Sensitizing an array of cantilevers, each with a different receptor, allows docking of different substances in the same solution. Core of the instrument is the liquid cell in which the cantilevers are mounted. The scientific report on this work has been published in Science , Vol.