Advances In Experimental Cell Biology And Cell-Material Interactions

Recent advances in the physical sciences and engineering have made it possible to measure and manipulate the mechanical and binding properties of cells in new ways. In this chapter, we will introduce this field by discussing two different experimental approaches at the interface of biology and engineering: 1) ways to measure the different types of forces generated by the actin cytoskeleton and 2) how we can probe the interactions between cells and their environment using nanostructured surfaces.