Researchers
have created the world's tiniest hammer to precisely measure how force affects
brain
cells, an advance that might pave the way for better treatments against
traumatic brain
injuries
and Alzheimer's.
Researchers
at University of California have built a tiny machine called microHammer.
“Mechanical
forces have been shown to impact cells a lot,“ said Kimberly Turner from UC.
Far
from being isolated units of life, cells stem cells in particular take cues
from their
environment
that, for example, direct them to differentiate into one type of cell or
another, or
to
start healing processes. However, a major limitation to understanding the
reactions of
individual
cells to forces has been the inability to reliably apply impact or pressure to
them.
MicroHammer,
a cellular-scale machine built to tap, strike, squeeze and poke individual
neural
progenitors elicits responses that will then be studied and recorded to add to
a body of
knowledge that can help
unlock the mysteries of the brain.
Source: The
Times of India
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