Diederik Luyt
Nano But Mighty: A Study of Lipid Nanoparticle Size and Function
London Christian Elementary School
Nanotechnologies are at the forefront of science today. In biology and medicine, lipid nanoparticles (NPs) are an area of exciting application. Lipid NPs are being used for RNA delivery in COVID-19 vaccines, drugs and cancer therapies. In this experiment, liposomes (larger multilamellar vesicles) were created and sonicated for different time lengths to find the best time length to create lipid NPs (small unilamellar vesicles). The experiment demonstrated that thirty-five minutes of sonication time produced lipid NPs with a size of 390 nm. The second experiment tested encapsulation inside lipid NPs using a dye. The experiment showed that the lipid NPs encapsulated the dye through the much slower release of dye through dialysis. The experiment demonstrated the ability of lipid NPs to encapsulate, which has important potential applications for medical therapeutics. The two experiments demonstrated a simple technique for the creation of lipid NPs and further showed their encapsulation ability.
Award
Excellence Award – Junior Bronze Medal
Sponsor: Youth Science Canada