Applied Chemical and Morphological Analysis Laboratory Newsblog

Who is Imaging Hemolysin X Treated Red Blood Cells at Michigan Tech?

Published
By
Sequence of six images showing the disintegration of cell membranes.

The Laboratory of Mechanistic Glycobiology research group, led by Dr. Tarun Dam, is studying how the function of biomolecules from plant cells translates to human cells. Hemolysin X is a biomolecule that can disrupt and disintegrate cell membranes. The image above depicts how Hemolysin X systematically disintegrates a red blood cell.  The research group is looking into how this molecule reacts with other types of mammalian cells, including cancer cells.

Image taken by Jared Edwards, Chemistry PhD candidate, on ACMAL’s Hitachi S-4700 FE-SEM.

Learn more about the Laboratory of Mechanistic Glycobiology research group: Laboratory of Mechanistic Glycobiology

Visit the Applied Chemical and Morphological Analysis Laboratory’s webpage to learn more about our shared facility and instruments available to the Michigan Tech research community: ACMAL

Continue Reading →

STEM Update

Published
By

Facilities have completed the updates on the rooftop chiller. They add capacity to the system by switching to potable water to cool the condenser side of the chillers. This will temporarily resolve the problem and get us back online until a more robust solution can be implemented.  The technician from Thermo Fisher will be here this week to complete the repairs. If all goes well the TEM will be back online next week.

Stay tuned for more information.

Continue Reading →

Who is Imaging Electrospun Polycaprolactone Fiber Scaffolding at Michigan Tech?

Published
By
Six panels of three different polymer nanofibers at low and high magnifications.

Dr. Smitha Rao, assistant professor for Biomedical Engineering at Michigan Tech, and the Biomedical µDevices research team developed a way to be able to observe how breast cancer cells grow and migrate in various environments. The project developed scaffolding systems that mimic structures that could be found in human tissue. They engineered three polycaprolactone scaffold structures to test different topographical and mechanical features: hexagonal, mesh-like and aligned.

The image was taken by Dr. Smitha Rao’s graduate and undergraduate students using ACMAL’s Hitachi S-4700 FE-SEM.

Read more about Dr. Rao and the Biomedical µDevices research team’s work:

Visit the Applied Chemical and Morphological Analysis Laboratory’s webpage to learn more about our shared facility and instruments available to the Michigan Tech research community: ACMAL

If you have you have an image you would like to be featured, submit it here:

Continue Reading →