Michael Roukes
Professor of Physics, Applied Physics, and Bioengineering
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif.

Advances in nanoscale devices now allow us to envisage unprecedented measurements at the level of single cells and molecules. Among such opportunities are mapping the forces generated by living cells in real time, ultimately with piconewton-scale, single-molecule resolution; resolving, calorimetrically, the metabolism of individual cells in real time; and tracking stochastic biochemical processes at the level of single molecules in real time.

I'll describe the state-of-the-art, future challenges, and some intriguing possibilities in these areas – especially in hope of stimulating additional imaginative uses of the new classes of tools emerging. Transitioning nanoscale devices from the realm of one-of-a-kind feats into robust and reproducible nanosystems – that is, tools useful for medical and biological research – is a monumental challenge that transcends the capabilities of any one lab. Only the very first steps have been taken towards this end, yet such efforts are crucial for realizing the promise of active nanotechnology. At least two essential elements must be in place to realize the vast applications potential that awaits. First, an unfamiliar fusion of technologies is required; one that melds techniques from traditionally separate disciplines with a specific scale of approach. Second, robust methods for nanobiotechnological large-scale-integration are required, and these must engender routes to production en masse.

The kind of disciplined assemblage of disparate technologies required is, perhaps, more familiar within the commercial sector than academia. But it is now essential, whether for pursuing fundamental research in medicine and the life sciences or, subsequently, for the development of future biomedical technology.

Michael Roukes is Professor of Physics, Applied Physics, and Bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology. He was founding Director of Caltech's Kavli Nanoscience Institute, and recently stepped down to return to full-time, collaborative nanoscience research. Professor Roukes completed undergraduate majors in both physics and chemistry at the University of California Santa Cruz, and thereafter earned a Ph.D. in physics at Cornell University, focusing upon electron transport in microstructures at ultralow temperatures. Subsequently, he joined Bell Communications Research as a Member of Technical Staff / Principal Investigator in the (then-new) Quantum Structures Research Group, where he carried out some of the earliest explorations of the physics of nanoelectronic devices. In 1992 he joined the faculty at the California Institute of Technology, where he built nanofabrication facilities and has established a large nanoscience research group, now heavily involved in cross-disciplinary collaborations.

Roukes' scientific interests range from fundamental science to applied biotechnology - with a unifying theme centered upon development, application, and large-scale-integration of complex nanostructures. He has published and written extensively on nanoscience and nanotechnology, has lectured at most major research centers world-wide, and is active on many national and international committees that promote this field.

The NIH Director's Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series includes weekly scientific talks by some of the top researchers in the biomedical sciences worldwide.