Spot Labeled Magnetic Microbeads for Single Spot Conjugation (2009)

Undergraduates: Anderson Cox, Lamar Mair, Kwan Skinner, Ashley Estes, Tim O'Brien, David Hill

Faculty Advisor: Richard Superfine
Department: Chemistry

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Manufactured microparticles, or beads, with functionalized surfaces are commercially available for biological and chemical force experiments. These beads can attach chemically and physically to other materials at any point on the surface of the bead. We have developed a process which eliminates binding on all of the bead except for one spot. This process has been tested with binding experiments and scanning electron microscopy and these methods have determineded that, after processing, the beads now label specifically on the remaining functionalized spot.