Objects at nano-scale behave differently from those on a larger scale, says Peter Cummings, John R. Hall Professor Chemical Engineering at Vanderbilt University, and Michael Simpson, professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The research paper has been published in a recent issue of the ACS Nano journal.
Vanderbilt team says a single bacterial cell functions better than a computer chip
This inherent behavioral difference is caused by ‘noise’. Noise is a random disturbance. At the nano-scale, noise can be a random movement, which is so jarring that reliable products become difficult to be developed. The report says random fluctuations in any environment induce a small minority to behave against the majority and could enable the group to react to the changing environment. The team worked at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory where they are endeavoring to understand this phenomenon by developing virtual simulations combined with physical cell mimics, artificial systems developed on the bio- scale that display cell-like properties. The study has been based on the theory that a single bacterial cell functions better than a computer chip by being imperfect.
Most infected cells in the AIDS virus are coerced into developing new viruses that infect surrounding cells. But some of the infected cells push the virus into a sleep mode, thus avoiding detection. The dormant infections could later become active, making it difficult to combat AIDS.