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News Feature
Nature 448, 984-986 (30 August 2007) | doi:10.1038/448984a; Published online 29 August 2007
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Paleobiologist / Biogeochemist
- University of Cincinnati
- Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Postdoctoral Research Fellows
- Northwestern University
- Chicago, Illinois, United States
Physics in the cell: Spring theory
Brendan Maher1
- Brendan Maher is a features editor at Nature.
Abstract
Physicists interested in the mechanics of single molecules are helping open one of the blackest boxes in biology. Brendan Maher discovers how the disciplines are working together.
When trying to explain why he has become fascinated by physics lately, Kerry Bloom, a cell and molecular biologist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, pulls a handful of paper clips from his pocket and links them together. Stretching a small chain across the surface of his palm, he says: "Imagine this is DNA.
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