A force controlled patch clamp of beating cardiac cells

From its invention in the 1970s, the patch clamp technique is the gold standard in electrophysiology research and drug screening because it is the only tool enabling accurate investigation of voltage-gated ion channels, which are responsible for action potentials. Because of its key role in drug screening, innovation efforts are being made to reduce...

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Nanotechnology applications for tissue engineering

Tissue engineering involves seeding of cells on bio-mimicked scaffolds providing adhesive surfaces. Researchers though face a range of problems in generating tissue which can be circumvented by employing nanotechnology. It provides substrates for cell adhesion and proliferation and agents for cell growth and can be used to create nanostructures and...

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Live bacterium depicted using X-ray laser

An international team led by Uppsala University scientists has succeeded, for the first time, in depicting intact live bacteria with an X-ray laser. This technique, now described in the journal ("Imaging single cells in a beam of live cyanobacteria with an X-ray laser"), can give researchers a clearer understanding of the complex world of cells. 'If...

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