Real-time in-vivo thermometry on worms by nitrogen-vacancy center in nanodiamond

Temperature affects various physiological functions and is one of the most important factors in homeostasis. However, these physiological functions have not yet understood from the biochemical  viewpoint. While several biological samples do not have the temperature receptor, they seem to adapt the temperature. In the standard sense of theoretical physics, the "small-scale" temperature is not well defined. Recently, the room-temperature operated nano-scale thermometry is established to use the nitrogen-vacancy center in nanodiamond. This thermal probe is the bio nontoxic. This is well known as one of the best candidates on the bio-sensing applications. In our study, Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is considered. C. elegans does not have the temperature receptor but control the aging speed by temperature. As the proof-of-concept experiment on the biological application by the nanodiamond thermometry, we measured the thermogenic response of C. elegans due to the chemical stimuli. This work is basically collaborated with Masazumi Fujiwara group and Eriko Kage-Nakadai group, which are in Osaka City University. 

Reference: M. Fujiwara, YS et al, https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.02844