American scientists please us with another achievement in printing technology. They found a new method printing finely-detailed microscopic images with an enzyme instead of ink.

The new method known as microcontact printing and reported to have a wide application for rapidly transferring high-resolution images onto large surfaces. However, current nanoscale printing technology depends on the diffusion of ink, and cannot reproduce details finer than one hundred nanometers in diameter.

In the new technology, “biocatalytic microcontact printing”, a nano-print is coated with an enzyme – a protein that fastens chemical reactions.

The enzyme then digests away a layer on the surface, leaving behind an imprint almost like an old-fashioned rubber stamp. Because the process does not require diffusion of ink, the resolution of microcontact printed images is about 100 times greater than conventional technology allows for.

The technique creates potential for faster, less expensive methods of nanolithography, which could be used to create complex structures for micromachines, biosensors, and other nanoscale devices, says Science Daily.