Summer School International University Bremen, 28. July - 4. August 2006

Biosensing with channels
faster, smaller, smarter

Subject of the Summer School Nature has created a huge number of membrane channels which act as highly selective gates for water soluble molecules. Exploiting the selectivity of such natural or bioengineered channels has promising applications for detecting molecules, characterizing molecular interaction, sequencing DNA, or watching peptide folding. Combining these investigations with microfluidic setups allows high throughput detection of cells and makes electrophysiology interesting for drug screening. Complementary to biological channels, recent advances in solid state technology allow to create artificial nanometer-sized pores in solid materials. Such artificial channels have surprisingly similar properties to natural channels. This summer school will cover molecular biological and biotechnological applications of membrane channels but will also inform on the underlaying physics and recent related advances in microfluidics, solid state physics, and nanoelectronics.

Working Program