Potential cure for HIV

This week’s Foresight Institute newsletter has several recent breakthroughs in nano-filtration technology. One using a silicon membrane and two others using different applications of carbon nanotube technology.

At the University of Rochester researchers have developed a porous membrane of silicon just 50 atoms thick (4,000 times thinner than a single human hair) yet with the strength of 15 pounds per square inch, that can be used to filter out individual molecules within air, water or blood based on both molecular size, and the charge of the molecule. Read more here.

Scientist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, using a low-voltage electrical charge combined with a carbon nanotube membrane, have found a way to filter individual molecules of salt from water, in a discovery that they say can “transform salt water into pure drinking water almost instantly.” Read more here.

In the laboratories of Queensland University of Technology, Associate Professor Huaiyong Zhu is leading a team that has developed a carbon nano-mesh that they believe will be able to filter the HIV virus from blood. They’ve done a proof of concept removing individual viruses from water and are now seeking a partner to develop the technology into a real world medical application. Read more here.

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