Encyclopedia Nanotech

Interdisciplinary nanotechnology requires thoroughly defined and re-defined terms. This encyclopedia serves the function of defining terms and then expanding upon how these words are used in nanotechnology. Click the word to view its encyclopedia entry. To see more words, click on a letter below to see the words that begin with that letter.

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Technology
The application of knowledge and understanding in order to control processes and fabricate products, from the Greek root techni, meaning 'art'.

Template
An external source of information or structure often used in manufacturing and mass production. As a nanoscale example, biological systems are known to use nucleic acids as a templates for protein synthesis.

Templating
The directed assembly of materials through interaction with a template.

Thermocycler
An instrument that repeatedly cycles through various temperatures required for an iterative, temperature-dependant chemical process such as the polymerase chain reaction.

Top-Down
Molding, carving and fabricating small materials and components by using larger objects such as our hands, tools and lasers.

Transcription
Conversion of genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA (mRNA).

Translation
Conversion of genetic information from messenger RNA (mRNA) into protein.

Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)
A method of producing images of a sample by illuminating the sample with electronic radiation (in a vacuum), and detecting the electrons that are transmitted through the sample.