Solid tumours are often first diagnosed by palpation, suggesting that the tumour is more rigid
than its surrounding environment. Paradoxically, individual cancer cells appear to be softer …

Living systems operate far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Enzymatic activity can induce
broken detailed balance at the molecular scale. This molecular scale breaking of detailed …

Molecular motors in cells typically produce highly directed motion; however, the aggregate,
incoherent effect of all active processes also creates randomly fluctuating forces, which drive …

Quantum metrology provides a route to overcome practical limits in sensing devices. It holds
particular relevance to biology, where sensitivity and resolution constraints restrict …

Dynamic biological measurements require low light levels to avoid damaging the specimen.
With this constraint on optical power, quantum noise fundamentally limits the measurement …

Living cells are viscoelastic materials, dominated by an elastic response on timescales
longer than a millisecond. On shorter timescales, the dynamics of individual cytoskeleton …

This book presents a comprehensive overview of microrheology, emphasizing the
underlying theory, practical aspects of its implementation, and current applications to …

Since their invention just over 20 years ago, optical traps have emerged as a powerful tool
with broad-reaching applications in biology and physics. Capabilities have evolved from …

Cells generate and sustain mechanical forces within their environment as part of their
normal physiology. They are active materials that can detect mechanical stimulation by the …

A cell undergoes many genetic and epigenetic changes as it transitions to malignancy.
Malignant transformation is also accompanied by a progressive loss of tissue homeostasis …