CISMM

CORES

Core 1: Force Microscope Technologies
Core 2: Ideal Microscope Interfaces
Core 3: Visualization and Analysis

In recent years the significance of the mechanical component of biomedicine has emerged. Processes as fundamental as gene expression in cells are affected by applied stresses, and that the very identity of the cell can depend on the stiffness of the surrounding matrix. Within a physiological setting, this component has always been apparent in examples such as the mechanical function of a blood clot in stemming blood loss, or the inability of the lung to clear thickened mucus. Understanding these processes and their full implications for health requires the development of tools for applying and measuring forces at the scale of single molecules, cells and tissues.

The goal of our Resource is to develop force technologies applicable over a wide range of biological settings, from the single molecule to the tissue, with integrated systems that orchestrate facile instrument control, multimodal imaging, and analysis through visualization and modeling. Ultimately, the goal of science is understanding. Understanding arises from a series of steps: experiment design, experiment execution, data analysis and interpretation, model building with frequent comparison to experimental data. Closing this loop has been a driving challenge in CISMM, with projects designed to provide real-time data analysis, the simulation of experiments based on structural and physical models, and the ability to visualize their correlations.