Gold-coated glass is extremely valuable in high-resolution imaging applications. We talked about this at length recently, extolling the unique adsorption mechanics and infrared (IR) reflectivity of gold thin films as critical virtues for niche areas of experimentation. The key takeaway from that article was this: Provided your thin film is extremely high purity and topographically uniform at the atomic scale, your gold-coated substrate should provide a flawless surface for detailed microscopic or spectroscopic observations.
Author: Jessica Maloney
Since the 1960s, silicon technology has been revolutionizing the way we think about electronic devices and digital communications. Gold-coated silicon wafers represent another step on that exponential trajectory of innovation in semiconductor technology, combining the inherent electrical properties of silicon with the unique optical and physicochemical characteristics of gold. Provided the composite is engineered with absolute precision, gold-coated silicon wafers can be used in critical nanophotonic applications.
It goes without saying that gold is an incredibly valuable material, but its value in the combined fields of microscopy and spectroscopy extend far beyond the superficial. Gold thin films deposited uniformly onto transparent glass or mica have useful optical properties, including selective reflectivity and transmissivity. Provided that gold-coated glass can be engineered with extremely precise planarity at, or approaching, the atomic range, it can be readily leveraged in a range of high-resolution imaging techniques that push conventional optical limits.
Nanotechnology is a rapidly growing area of research and development (R&D) focussing on materials and structures with sub-microscale dimensions. The nanoscale can be difficult to visualize given that is a couple of orders of magnitude below anything that is visible with the human eye.
Cell migration is an extremely complex phenomenon. A motile single cell, or multicell aggregate, that penetrates through the extracellular matrix of neighboring tissues can be described as invasive. Cells grouped into coherent sheets, strands, or tubes may undergo a form of collective cell migration governed by tight intercellular connections. The former mechanism is characteristic of metastatic growth, while the latter is associated with wound healing. How can seemingly similar cellular mechanisms result in such dramatically different outcomes?
Platypus Technologies is a fast-growing provider of cell migration assays for precise and reproducible experimentation, from academia to the pharmaceutical sector. Our core competency revolves around the cell exclusion zone technology, an innovative, high-throughput cellular assay with real-time monitoring capabilities, and negligible margins of error. This represents a significant step forward for researchers in various clinical fields.
Dynamic cellular migration is of interest to biochemists in various areas of research and development (R&D). This process refers to the movement of individual cells or cellular clusters from one location to another, typically in response to some chemical or mechanical signal. Pharmaceutical companies have been particularly invested in studying cell migration and invasion as these processes underlie an extremely wide range of pathological phenomena – thus offering significant promise for generating valuable pharmacological interventions.
Understanding cellular invasion and migration is important for studying a wide range of biological processes. By observing the directed rate of movement of cells in response to chemical or mechanical signals, researchers can investigate processes as varied as metastasis and wound healing. Historically, this has proven difficult due to a lack of efficient and reproducible methods for quantitatively assessing cell migration.
Cellular migration refers to the movement of cells from one location to another, usually in response to some chemical or mechanical signal. It is fundamental to an extremely wide range of organic processes, from the developmental (i.e. embryogenesis) to ongoing biological maintenance (i.e. tissue repair). Using a cell migration assay, it is possible to measure the net migration and rate of migration for cellular populations in vitro and thus gain an understanding of various bioorganic mechanisms.