Diamond Nanosensors for Age and Stress Related Changes in Cells

Free radicals are produced naturally during cell metabolism. Cells also have a specific mechanism to convert those chemicals to be less reactive and easy to eliminate. However, disturbance of the cell system, which lead to unbalanced level of free radicals inside the cells results in oxidative stress condition and aging process. Developing free radical biosensors is challenging since all existing methods have some issues with sensitivity and specificity. Fluorescent nanodiamonds (FNDs) containing defects called NV centers are promising biosensors. A technique called diamond magnetometry, combines the advantages of fluorescence techniques with magnetic resonance methods. It uses NV centers FNDs that can convert magnetic signals into an optical signal. A specific type of magnetometry measurements that we used in this thesis are called T1 measurements. These are specific for spin noise and thus great candidates for free radicals sensors. This work provides some information about how FNDs can be used as free radicals biosensor.