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In Touch with the Inner Cell
Microscopes bring us closer to cells, but what if we could
actually touch them? Junior Ben Wilde can.
For the past two years, the junior computer science major
has worked in Professor Richard Superfine’s physics
laboratory creating a three-dimensional force microscope that
will allow researchers to touch the organelles of living cells.
Wilde and his advisor, Professor Russell Taylor, place tiny
magnetic beads in, on, and around living cells. Then, they
use electromagnets to “touch” the beads and pull
them against different parts of the cell, giving them a better
sense of its properties. “The coolest thing is that
it’s a fun job, so I enjoy every minute I spend in the
lab,” Wilde says.
So far, Wilde has used his findings in the study of biological
samples from the Cystic Fibrosis/Pulmonary Research and Treatment
Center at Carolina. His work with the center helps to provide
a better understanding of cystic fibrosis that could possibly
aid in finding to a cure.
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