US Patent 7985385 - Programmable charge patterns for protein assembly

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7985385.html


This patent from SRI International teaches a device to achieve protein crystallization using a bottom-up nanoscale approach which may be useful to future customization of drug design. Claim 1 reads:

1. A device for providing a purification of biomolecules, said device comprising:

a nanoscale substrate supporting an addressable nanoscale array, the addressable nanoscale array being programmable with charge patterns for selective molecule attraction; and

a means for exposing biomolecules, where said biomolecules are in a form amenable to a directable flow, to the nanoscale substrate in a manner such that the biomolecules are collected, thereby improving the purification of said biomolecules.