Turning Biological Cells to Stone Improves Cancer and Stem Cell Research

December 10, 2014

(Phys.org) – But a new technique to transmute living cells into more permanent materials that defy decay and can endure high-powered probes is widening research opportunities for biologists who are developing cancer treatments, tracking stem cell evolution or even trying to understand how spiders vary the quality of the silk they spin. The simple, silica-based method also offers materials scientists the ability to “fix” small biological entities like red blood cells into more commercially useful shapes.