Marcel P. Bruchez

Associate Research Professor of Chemistry & Program Manager for the National Technology Center for Networks and Pathways (headquartered at Carnegie Mellon)

Research Interests

Bruchez develops and commercializes research tools for bionanotechnology — an emerging field that creates or adapts materials and chemical processes to solve biological problems. As a graduate student, he modified quantum dots — nanometer-sized crystal particles — so that they could be used to tag proteins and label cells. After founding Quantum Dot Corporation to commercialize quantum dots for biological applications, Bruchez continued to work with academic and industrial collaborators to develop, test and publish new properties of quantum dots for a variety of applications. At Carnegie Mellon, he continues his research and entrepreneurial activities. In addition to advancing research using quantum dots, Bruchez is also investigating applications for the novel technologies being developed at the National Technology Center for Networks and Pathways. This Center studies in detail how all the proteins within a living cell are interacting with each other in real-time and in 3-D spaces.

Professional Background

Ph.D. Physical Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, 1998
B.S. Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1995

As an NSF Graduate Research Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, Bruchez developed the initial applications of quantum dots in biological research. Based on this work, he founded Quantum Dot Corporation in 1998 to develop and commercialize quantum dots for biological applications. In 2005, Quantum Dot Corporation was purchased by Invitrogen Corporation, and Bruchez joined the Molecular Biosensor and Imaging Center as Program Manager for the National Technology Center for Networks and Pathways. He holds 16 patents and has received numerous recognitions for his innovative work, including the Rank Prize for Optoelectronics (2005) and the MIT TR100 Award (2004), which recognizes 100 remarkable innovators under 35 who are transforming technology and the world. In 2003, Science recognized his development of quantum dots for biological detection as one of the Top Ten Scientific Innovations of 2003.

What are quantum dots, and how can they be used by biologists?

Quantum dots are nano-sized crystalline particles made of a few hundred to a few thousand atoms of a semiconductor material (typically cadmium selenide). Quantum dots emit light in a variety of colors, depending on their size. This potential rainbow of colors allows researchers to simultaneously image multiple markers in cells and tissues.  Unlike traditional fluorescent markers used in research and medicine, quantum dots are very bright, do not bleach under intense illumination and keep their fluorescence for long periods of time. All of these attributes are extremely useful for biological research and diagnostics. They can be used to tag proteins inside cells, label sentinel lymph nodes to determine whether they have become cancerous, track activity inside living cells, and a variety of other things.

In fact, there’s a great research program at MBIC that investigates ways to modify commercially available quantum dots for use in biology. I started collaborating with Alan Waggoner, Byron Ballou and Phil Campbell several years ago. Together we modified the surface of quantum dots, which enabled them to circulate for hours in animals and to provide stable fluorescent signals when localized in these animals for more than a year. This was a major advance and a stepping-stone to one day using quantum dots or analogous materials for non-invasive imaging in humans to monitor and treat diseases such as cancer.

Do you still work with quantum dots?

We’ve continued to develop clever ways to extend quantum dot’s lifespan inside living cells and animals, to build hybrids of quantum dots and technologies like x-ray contrast agents, and to engineer the quantum dots to label populations of cells. I’m working with Dr. Steven Toms at the Cleveland Clinic using modified quantum dots to label brain tumors. Brain tumors look almost identical to normal brain tissue, which makes it difficult for neurosurgeons to visually distinguish cancerous tissue from healthy tissue. We’ve attached a chemical group to the surface of quantum dots that targets cells that invade brain tumors. Once attached to the tumor, the quantum dots are very bright and easy to visualize, allowing neurosurgeons to more precisely perform delicate brain surgeries to remove tumors. This represents the logical next-step from interventional imaging — the stereotaxic navigation that is currently used to locate points within the brain using an external, three-dimensional frame of reference, such as a CT or MRI scan of the patient’s brain.

Are quantum dots one of the technologies being developed at the National Technology Center for Networks and Pathways?

A goal of the National Technology Center for Networks and Pathways is to build a toolkit of multi-color molecular biosensors to study in detail how all the proteins are interacting with each other in real-time in the 3-D space of a living cell. Right now, we’re not working with quantum dots for these types of applications. Instead, we’re developing a new generation of research tools that are needed to fully understand cell networks and how they function in health and disease. At this point, a number of pieces of the technology are coming together into working tools for biological projects. In fact, we’re collaborating with four scientists who are already starting to use our new tools to conduct their research.

Are you settling back in to academic life?

Academic life is different than commercial business life, but it’s a lot of fun and incredibly stimulating. It’s given me a great opportunity to focus on the possibilities in biological detection, a welcome change from a focus on short term goals. Pittsburgh is a great place to build small companies and try to grow them. And Carnegie Mellon is a great environment for collaborative, interdisciplinary work. I’m not a biologist, but I have ideas about how to help biologists. Being a part of the National Technology Center for Networks and Pathways is a perfect place for me because it was designed to be a collaborative endeavor — and it’s already proven fruitful.

Amy Pavlak
May 2007

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