CSU Researchers Receive Grant to Develop Laser Microscope

Two Colorado State University (CSU) researchers have been awarded a $1 million grant to develop a new laser microscope that will light up the way in which molecules communicate with each other.

Randy Bartels, an electrical engineering professor, and Stu Tobet, the director of the university’s School of Biomedical Engineering stated that the three-year W.M. Keck funding would allow them to develop and test a laser microscope. They added that the microscope would offer close-up views of small molecular groups. Tobet remarked that numerous researchers have been trying to find out the communication of molecules for quite some time.

Bartels added that the researchers were taking laser cultures, which were bright, short flashes in time. These pulses of light would facilitate in getting lower concentrations and enable the visualization of cells that talk with each other. Bartels commented that deciphering the molecular conversations would aid researchers to understand the functioning of cancer cells.