Nano-agents for read / write microscopy and nano-macro bridging

Tiny wireless devices called "nano-agents" will swim inside living cells and other objects to read and write information at the nanoscale. The problem is that existing tools for seeing and manipulating the nanoscale all have crippling limitations. Optical microscopes cannot resolve objects smaller than light's wavelength. Atomic force microscopes can only scan surfaces, not interiors. Electron microscopes require vacuum chambers and kill living samples. This leaves a blind spot: we cannot observe or alter nanoscale structures inside large, wet, living systems—such as a cell's internal machinery or the molecular architecture of a working material. This project builds nano-agents that operate remotely, without physical contact with the instrument. They will sense conditions at the nanoscale and, crucially, change them—writing as well as reading. If successful, the technology could transform fields from cell biology to materials science, allowing researchers to watch proteins fold inside a living neuron or to repair defects in a composite material from within. The work is fundamental science: it creates a new communication channel with a scale that currently sits beyond our reach. Past fundamental advances in microscopy—from the scanning tunnelling microscope to super-resolution fluorescence—have opened entirely unexpected industries. This project aims to do the same for the nanoscale inside living and large objects.