Category: Research

Teamwork leads UO chemists to a new kind of fluorescent dye

Posted on by Leah O'Brien

Video:Doctoral student Brittany White talks about the collaborative research project she worked on with postdoctoral researcher Yu Zhao and chemistry professors Ramesh Jasti and Mike Pluth.

Teamwork by chemists in two University of Oregon labs has led to a new class of fluorescent dyes that could expand the real-time view of cell activity in medical diagnostics.

In a paper in ACS Central Science, with White as lead author, the group detailed how they fitted organic molecules called nanohoops with a chemical sidechain of sulfonate to make them water soluble and able to penetrate cell membranes. Nanohoops are made with short, circular slices of carbon atoms. Making them in different sizes, the group discovered, produces distinctive colors that can be illuminated in living cells by a single laser burst.

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Andy Marcus Part of Team Awarded Major Grant for Quantum Science Research

Posted on by Leah O'Brien
Photo: Professors Brian Smith, Andy Marcus and Mike Raymer
From left) Professors Brian Smith, Andy Marcus and Mike Raymer are helping advance UO research in quantum computing as well as the National Quantum Initiative.

UO researchers on the forefront of quantum information science continue to make major strides toward passing legislation, and last week three of them were awarded a major grant to pursue studies in quantum science.

UO physicist Michael Raymer, a Philip H. Knight professor in the Department of Physics, and two colleagues, chemistry professor Andy Marcus and physics professor Brian Smith, have been awarded a $997,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The award is part of a $31 million NSF program for fundamental quantum research that, together with $281 million in Department of Energy investment, aims to help the United States take a leading role in the fast-evolving quantum technology revolution.

Read the full article in AroundtheO