BioE grad links cells with spirit

November 2007 Bioengineering graduate student Erik Douglas used a new technique for precisely positioning cells for study in a microscopic chemistry "lab-on-a-chip" to spell out "Cal" for the cover of the November 2007 Lab on a Chip. The image shows human cells, each about 20 microns wide, that were decorated with modified sugars that are in turn linked to specific DNA tags. Berkeley Chemistry Professor Rich Mathies, who developed the method with Carolyn Bertozzi and Matthew Francis, encouraged graduate students Erik Douglas and Ravi Chandra to chemically demonstrate their Cal spirit. They hope to use the technique to attach cells to electrodes that then can stimulate the cells and detect their responses. Read the story at the UC Berkeley News Center .