How jellyfish invented polariton lasers

We have been fascinated by fluorescent proteins and by their amazing optical performance for quite a while now. In 2011, we reported lasing from fluorescent protein and from cells producing them. Later, we showed that unlike most synthetic dyes, fluorescent proteins do not suffer from concentration quenching which is a direct result of their unique … Read more

Welcome to Eleni Dalaka

In July Eleni Dalaka joined our group as a new PhD student. Elena has studied at the National Technical University of Athens and will work on micro-resonators for studying processes in live cells.

Cells allowed to watch OLED-TV in the GatherLab

A microscopic version of the OLED displays found in modern smart-phones can be used to control the membrane current in genetically modified cells. HEK cells expressing different versions of the optogenetic construct Channelrhodopsin were grown directly on the surface of an OLED microdisplay and were found to respond to the light provided by individual pixels … Read more

GatherLab at General Meeting of COST Action 1205 on “Advances in Optofluidics: Integration of Optical Control and Photonics with Microfluidics”

On Monday, Malte gave an invited talk on the latest activities of the group at the General Meeting of COST Action 1205 on “Advances in Optofluidics: Integration of Optical Control and Photonics with Microfluidics” which takes place in Istanbul this week. COST Action 1205 brings together prominent European Researchers working in the field of optofluidics. … Read more

A full room at the first MRS Spring in Phoenix

Together with Sebastian Reineke (TU Dresden), Chihaya Adachi (Kyushu University) and Marc Baldo (MIT), Malte organised a symposium on “Organic Excitonic Systems and Devices” at the MRS Spring Meeting in Phoenix. We had a full week of exciting program and next time around may ask MRS to put a few more chairs in the room. … Read more

Bioabsorbable Polymer Optical Waveguides For Deep-Tissue Photomedicine

A new technique, discovered by researchers at the University of St Andrews and Harvard Medical School, which delivers light deeper into human tissue than previously possible, could help heal wounds faster. Thin flexible optical fibers and waveguides using biocompatible polymers, such as lactic-acid based polymers and photo-crosslinkable hydrogels, have been developed by the team, which … Read more

BBC Arabic broadcasts from our lab

BBC Arabic Service broadcasted a report on our recent work that demonstrated for the first time how laser light can be generated inside live cells. A BBC team came to visit us and filmed extensive material in our labs. The full BBC report can be watched here: http://youtu.be/HEovboKZvKM?t=995. Find more about the work covered in the … Read more

Welcome to our three new PhD students

As of September the group is joined by three new PhD students. Andrew Meek will be working with Nils on our HFSP funded cell biomechanics work. Alasdair Fikoura is co-supervised by Dr Andrea Di Falco and Malte. Ben Armitage has a background in synthetic chemistry. He is jointly supervised by Dr Eli Zysman-Colman and Malte. Welcome!