Research News

  • October 5, 2009

    Understanding a Cell's Split Personality Aids Synthetic Circuits

    DURHAM, N.C. -- As scientists work toward making genetically altered bacteria create living "circuits" to produce a myriad of useful proteins and chemicals, they have logically assumed that the single-celled organisms would always respond to an external command in the same way. Alas, some bacteria apparently have an individualistic streak that makes them zig when the others zag. A new set of experiments by Duke University bioengineers has uncovered the existence of "bistability," in which an individual ...
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  • September 28, 2009

    DARPA-Funded Study to Detect Viral Infection Before Symptoms Appear

    The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the research arm of the U.S. Department of Defense, has awarded Duke University $19.5 million for an effort led by the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP) to design a portable, easy-to-use diagnostic device that can reveal who is infected with an upper respiratory virus before the first cough or sneeze. DARPA is interested in such a device because it could offer military commanders in the field ...
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  • September 14, 2009

    When Nano May Not Be Nano

    DURHAM, N.C. The same properties of nanoparticles that make them so appealing to manufacturers may also have negative effects on the environment and human health. However, little is known which particles may be harmful. Part of the problem is determining exactly what a nanoparticle is. A new analysis by an international team of researchers from the Center for the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology (CEINT), based at Duke University, argues for a new look at the ...
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  • September 11, 2009

    Smart Home Recognized for Innovations

    Once again, the Smart Home Program has received national attention for its contributions to making the world a greener place. This time, it was the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), who announced this week that the Duke program is one of the recipients of its Excellence in Green Building Curriculum Recognition Awards for 2009. Duke's Smart Home Program was one of five award winners in the category covering colleges and universities. The award recognizes innovative green building ...
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  • August 18, 2009

    How Mercury Becomes Toxic in the Environment

    DURHAM, N.C. Naturally occurring organic matter in water and sediment appears to play a key role in helping microbes convert tiny particles of mercury in the environment into a form that is dangerous to most living creatures. This finding is important, say Duke University environmental engineers, because it could change the way mercury in the environment is measured and therefore regulated. This particularly harmful form of the element, known as methylmercury, is a potent ...
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  • August 11, 2009

    Capping a Two-Faced Particle Gives Duke Engineers Complete Control

    DURHAM, N.C. Scientists drew fittingly from Roman mythology when they named a unique class of miniscule particles after the god Janus, who is usually depicted as having two faces looking in opposite directions. For years, scientists have been fascinated by the tantalizing possibilities of these particles for their potential applications in electronic display devices, sensors and many other devices. However, realizing these applications requires precise control over the positions and orientation of the particles, ...
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  • July 17, 2009

    Why Winning Athletes Are Getting Bigger

    DURHAM, N.C. -- While watching swimmers line up during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, former Olympic swimmer and NBC Sports commentator Rowdy Gaines quipped that swimmers keep getting bigger, with the shortest one in the current race towering over the average spectator. What may have been seen as an off-hand remark turns out to illustrate a trend in human development -- elite athletes are getting bigger and bigger. What Gaines did not know was that a ...
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  • July 14, 2009

    Two Young ECE Researchers Awarded

    Two Duke University engineers have received the highest honor given to scientists by the U.S. government. Adrienne Stiff-Roberts and Chris Dwyer, both assistant professors of electrical and computer engineering at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, each received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). The awards are intended recognize young investigators and support them in the early stages of their independent research careers. The award also carries up to $1 million in research support ...
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  • July 7, 2009

    Finding the Constant in Bacterial Communication

    DURHAM, N.C. -- The Rosetta Stone of bacterial communication may have been found. Although they have no sensory organs, bacteria can get a good idea about what's going on in their neighborhood and communicate with each other, mainly by secreting and taking in chemicals from their surrounding environment. Even though there are millions of different kinds of bacteria with their own ways of sensing the world around them, Duke University bioengineers believe they have found a ...
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  • June 30, 2009

    Triangles Go Underwater and Supersonic

    DURHAM, N.C. The seeming effortlessness as dolphins and porpoises slice through the water and the unique capabilities of the supersonic Concorde airplane have more in common than one might think. The first systematic comparative analysis of the hydrodynamic properties of the flippers of dolphins, porpoises and whales has concluded that the swept back, triangular flippers help the animal move efficiently through the water in much the same way that the jet's delta wings provide ...
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  • June 18, 2009

    Autonomous Robot Detects Shrapnel

    DURHAM, N.C. Bioengineers at Duke University have developed a laboratory robot that can successfully locate tiny pieces of metal within flesh and guide a needle to its exact location - all without the need for human assistance. The successful proof-of-feasibility experiments lead the researchers to believe that in the future, such a robot could not only help treat shrapnel injuries on the battlefield, but might also be used for such medical procedures as ...
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  • June 16, 2009

    Potential For Non-Invasive Brain Tumor Treatment

    DURHAM, N.C. --  Duke University engineers have taken a first step toward a minimally invasive treatment of brain tumors by combining chemotherapy with heat administered from the end of a catheter. The proof-of-concept study demonstrated that it should be technically possible to treat brain tumors without the side effects associated with the traditional approaches of surgery, systemic chemotherapy or radiation. The bioengineers designed and built an ultrasound catheter that can fit into large blood vessels of the ...
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