High precision measurement of single-cell mass: applications to cell biology and personalized medicine in cancer
Dr. Scott Manalis
David H. Koch (1962) Professor of Engineering, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Departments of Biological and Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Virtual only
Faculty Host: Ralf Bundschuh
Abstract: Nanomechanical resonators enable the measurement of mass with extraordinary sensitivity. Resolving small mass changes requires the resonator to be light and to ring at a very pure tone—that is, with a high quality factor. In solution, viscosity severely degrades both of these characteristics, thus preventing many applications in nanotechnology and the life sciences where fluid is required. My lab has addressed this problem by placing the solution inside a hollow resonator that is surrounded by vacuum. This eliminates signal degradation from viscous drag and has enabled us to weigh individual particles down to the attogram scale.
In this talk I will show how my lab has been using this approach to weigh individual cells in order to measure cell growth with unprecedented precision, thereby enabling new phenomena to be revealed about the interplay between cell cycle progress and cell growth dynamics. I will also highlight collaborations with physician scientists at DFCI where we are using high precision single-cell biophysical properties such as mass and density to infer treatment response of the patient.
Bio: Scott Manalis is the David H. Koch (1962) Professor of Engineering and faculty member in the departments of biological and mechanical engineering at MIT. He is the associate department head of the biological department and a member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and MIT’s Center for Precision Cancer Research. He has been a faculty member at Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1999 and prior to that he received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in physics and applied physics at University of California at Santa Barbara and Stanford, respectively. His lab is interested in developing precision measurement approaches for biological and clinical applications and he is a founder of Travera.
Please use the Zoom link below to attend virtually:
https://osu.zoom.us/j/94858307115?pwd=K0JDMTROWVhIOUp6bU1sU0prZjNUZz09
Meeting ID: 948 5830 7115
Password: PRB1080
