Biologists LEVER knowledge from 3D visualisation

Dr Andrew Cohen, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering, is leading a group of researchers who are developing the software and hardware that will enable biologists to better track and study the movement and multiplication of cells.

Their goal is to enhance the current visual data that these scientists are working with so that it’s easier to identify changes in cells over time –information that is key to studying the abnormal cell proliferation that causes cancer and also to using stem cells in regenerative medicine.

‘This type of imaging is so important because it allows us to see and measure relationships between cells and their environment,’ Cohen said in a statement.

Typically the process of tracking cell lineage over time requires biologists to watch the time-lapse images and note by hand when the cells multiply –creating a graphic representation of cell division over time called a ‘lineage tree.’ This process, however, can take a researcher several hours.