The Michigan Engineer News Center

New class of antibiotics: nanobiotics

by Joseph Xu
Michigan Engineering
August 30, 2017
U-M researchers Nicholas Kotov and J. Scott VanEpps are collaborating to create a new class of antibiotics known as nanobiotics.| Short Read

Nicholas Kotov, Joseph B and Florence V Cejka Professor of Engineering, and J. Scott VanEpps, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, are collaborating to create a new class of antibiotics known as nanobiotics. By bringing together their expertise from their respective disciplines, the two are engineering these nanoparticles to battle specific antibiotic resistant bacteria that are especially a problem for medical devices.

Researchers created the future of antibiotics: nanobiotics. These nanoparticle-based antibiotics are being used to fight medical device infections.

EnlargeScientist in the lab
IMAGE:  Harrison Hou, ChE BSE Student, synthesizes nanobiotics, a new class of antibiotics created by the Kotov Research Group in the NCRC on North Campus. Photo: Joseph Xu
Scientist in the lab
Portrait of Nicholas Kotov

Contact

Nicholas Kotov
Joseph B and Florence V Cejka Professor of Engineering, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Chemical Engineering
Biomedical Engineering
Materials Science and Engineering

(734) 763-8768

3074 H H Dow

If this interested you, consider:
Eyke holds the kirigami in handRelated

Kirigami sensor patch for shoulders could improve injury recovery, athletic training

Low-cost sensors could one day enable patients to log exercise and track progress in a smartphone app| Medium Read
A 3D gridRelated

Microscale 3D printing for medicine

New “jet writing” technique can make detailed 3D structures with clinically relevant materials for future implants and cancer studies.| Medium Read
Related

Artificial cartilage made from Kevlar mimics the magic of the real thing

In spite of being 80 percent water, cartilage is tough stuff. Now, a synthetic material can pack even more H2O without compromising on strength.| Medium Read
Researchers
Jay Guo holds a sheet of flexible transparent conductor on the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering North Campus. The material sandwiches a thin layer of silver between two “dielectric” materials, aluminum oxide and zinc oxide, producing a conductive anti-reflection coating on the sheet of plastic.

Making plastic more transparent while also adding electrical conductivity

Michigan Engineers change the game by making a conductive coating that’s also anti-reflective. | Medium Read
Chad Jenkins, CSE Associate Professor, poses with his research group's two robots, Odd Job and Cookie, in the Beyster Building on October 27, 2016

Technology that serves all: a single step could pave the way

A Q&A with Chad Jenkins. | Medium Read
White blood cells called neutrophils, tagged with fluorescent red dye, eat spheres or rods that have been tagged with green dye. Because neutrophils are more willing to eat rods than are other immune cells, an injection of rod-shaped particles could be used to target neutrophils specifically. Earlier work in mice from the Eniola-Adefeso group suggests that injections of spheres can reduce excessive inflammation in the lungs. Credit: Hanieh Safari, Eniola-Adefeso Lab, University of Michigan.

How rod-shaped particles might distract an out-of-control immune response

When white blood cells don’t know when to stop, an injection of rod-shaped particles may draw them away from a site of excessive inflammation. | Medium Read
Research News
New Michigan Medicine research uncovers how pancreatic cancer cells (right) reprogram cancer-associated fibroblasts (left), setting in motion a process that converts available nutrients into a form more easily used by the cancer cells: branched-chain alpha-ketoacids (BCKAs). The researchers believe new therapies could potentially short-circuit this process.

Study suggests method to starve pancreatic cancer cells

Rather than attacking cancer cells directly, new cell-model research probes weaknesses in pancreatic cancer’s interactions with other cells to obtain nutrients needed for tumor growth. | Medium Read

Wireless sensors for N95 masks could enable easier, more accurate decontamination | Medium Read

Hunger and COVID: Fighting pandemic-related food insecurity in Detroit | Medium Read

Tracking COVID-19 spread faster, and more accurately | Medium Read
Campus & Community
Dusk on the Eda U. Gerstacker Grove on North Campus of the University of Michigan on October 25, 2016.

Making a socially distant campus ‘feel more like home’: Students offer ideas

As campuses across the nation move towards the challenges of fall semester, there’s well-spring of innovation and creativity coming from students. | Medium Read

Emergency fund fills in gaps for students during pandemic | Medium Read

Engineering course challenges students to create tech solutions for COVID-19 | Long Read

‘It is past time to address systemic racism’ | Medium Read
Faculty Perspectives
University of Michigan students, staff and faculty members participate in writing messages of inclusion and openness in support of Michigan Engineering international students, faculty and staff.

We value our international community

'Our nation is built on immigration and on the creativity that comes from a diversity of perspectives.' | Medium Read

Trump’s restrictions on Chinese students stifle American companies, universities and innovation | Short Read

Help eradicate the virus of racism | Medium Read

How much coronavirus testing is enough? States could learn from retailers as they ramp up | Short Read
In the News
Wired June 22, 2020
What is a side channel attack?
Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Daniel Genkin explains how the pursuit of performance over security can lead to more side channel exploits.
Planet Detroit June 25, 2020
DTE Gas announces plan to go ‘net zero’ by 2050; activists skeptical
Todd Allen, the Glenn F and Gladys H Knoll Department Chair of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, is quoted in Planet Detroit.
Popular Mechanics June 17, 2020
The HVAC system of the future swaps thermostats for thermal cameras
Michigan Engineers' HVAC system accounts for comfort while using less energy, reports Popular Mechanics.
The Hill June 5, 2020
Trump’s restrictions on Chinese students stifle American companies, universities and innovation
In an op-ed, Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering Professor Chair Brian Denton shares his perspective on the damages done by placing restrcitions on Chinese students in the U.S.
history

Five year plan: The North Campus story

Ed Lesher: Aircraft Hall of Famer

LASIK: The Bladeless Scalpel

Q&A with Samuel Ting