Physics Professor of Clarkson University, Igor Sokolov and his team worked in collaboration with Biology Professor Craig D. Woodworth on cervical cancer cells and the details of the work was published in an article in the May 23 issue of Chemical & Engineering News.
The article titled, “Using the Force on Cancer,” studies the present state of research in relation to the functioning of tumor cells using atomic force microscopy and its use as an innovative diagnostic tool for cancer detection.
Sokolov’s team, along with several other research groups, are trying to explore unknown properties of cancer cells that might be useful for the overall understanding and detection of cancer. Sokolov stated that the team studied the mechanical properties of cells using atomic force microscopy (AFM), which is an important instrument for the development of nanotechnology.
Many researchers have shown that cancer cells are soft when compared to normal ones. However, the Sokolov’s team discovered that cancer cells cannot be invariably classified as soft. When closely observing human cancer cervical cells, the team found that both cancer and normal cells do not vary significantly in rigidity. On the other hand, the team established that the surface mechanical properties of normal cells and cancerous cells are considerably different and they used a precise model to explain the measurements.
The research was conducted in the Nanoengineering and Biotechnology Laboratories Center (NABLAB).
Source: http://clarkson.edu/