In a flat world where institutional, cultural and national barriers are fast disappearing and where instant communication around the clock is bringing people together in unprecedented ways, the infrastructure of GEM4 will be an engine that drives collaborations across disciplinary boundaries with potential for sweeping societal impact on a global scale. |
It has been a great challenge to directly measure the cells' changing mechanical properties continuously as the parasite matures inside the cell. |
Our idea is to bring top researchers together across time zones and disciplinary boundaries, seamlessly and frequently. |
Such information at the molecular level is vital to gain insights into the pathogenesis of malaria, and potentially offers the opportunity to develop better drugs. |
These are tools that were not available five years ago. They could help to answer one of the key questions as a disease progresses in the human body: What is the connection between the development of the disease and the ability of a cell to change shape, move through the body, and stick to a blood vessel wall? |
This really gives a level of strain for the red blood cell that is similar to what that cell experiences as it moves through tiny blood vessels. |
We bring to the table expertise in measuring the strength of materials at the smallest of scales. |