The world's first mechanical device capable of mea

The world's first mechanical device capable of measuring the mass of a single molecule came out

the scientific research team led by scientists at the California Institute of technology successfully developed the first nano mechanical device capable of measuring the mass of a single biomolecule. The researchers said that this new technology can help doctors in the future to briefly talk about the recent revision of the national standard for electric vehicle charging interface, through the review of diseases, support biologists to explore the molecular mechanism of cells, etc. The relevant research report was published on the well-known network edition of Jinan testing machine factory, the journal Nature Nanotechnology, published on the same day

this device is only a few microns large and consists of a vibration structure similar to the bridge. When a particle or molecule lands on the bridge deck, its mass will change the oscillation frequency, thus showing its mass

the new instrument is based on a nano electromechanical system (NEMS) resonator that can measure the mass of a single particle, but the previous operating factor affecting the impact strength: the equipment can not determine the landing point of the particle, so researchers need to measure about 500 identical particles to finally confirm the mass of a single particle. Using the improved new instrument, scientists only need to measure one particle. "This critical development allows us to weigh individual molecules." Michael Rocos, a professor in the Department of Applied Physics and bioengineering at the University, said

the research team first analyzed how particles can change the vibration frequency of the bridge. All oscillatory motions consist of so-called vibrational modes. If the bridge oscillates only in the first mode, it will vibrate from one side to the other, and the vibration in the middle part is the most obvious. The second vibration mode is at a higher frequency, which means that half of the bridge will move in one direction and the other half will move in the opposite direction, forming an S-shaped oscillation wave that runs through the whole bridge. At the same time, it also has the third mode and the fourth mode. Whenever the bridge oscillates, its motion can be regarded as a combination of these vibration modes. Researchers found that the mass and position of particles can be determined by observing how the first and second modes change the vibration frequency when particles fall

the existing mass spectrometer cannot effectively and accurately measure the weight of large molecules such as proteins or viruses, while the new device can also work well for large molecules. It can also expand the functions of existing equipment and develop a new generation of mass spectrometer to measure the mass of more substances. In addition, the new device adopts standard semiconductor manufacturing technology, which is convenient for mass production and relatively low cost. In the future, new equipment can be used to monitor the immune system of patients or diagnose immune diseases. At the same time, it is expected to help biologists understand the molecular mechanism of cells. For example, by weighing each protein in the cell for many times, scientists can more clearly know the dynamic details of the protein at a specific time