Good Vibrations

Listening to a piano, guitar or a clarinet it’s not instantly clear what they have in common. Yet all musical instruments produce vibrations, the nature of which gives them each a unique sound. Our body’s building blocks – carbohydrates, fats and proteins, for example – are no different, giving off tiny vibrations that are as individual as a trumpet fanfare. Identifying them is just a case of knowing how to listen. Scientists have done just this, developing a scanner that can recognise these minute vibrational calling cards. These cancer cells’ components are coloured in relation to their 'sound' – right down to the tiny fat droplets (dots coloured pink) floating inside. This improves on common imaging techniques, which rely on labelling targets with chemicals, which can be toxic and also disrupt natural processes. The chance to study the body without these invasive techniques will be music to researchers' ears.

Written by Jan Piotrowski

Jan Piotrowski

Writer

A recent Imperial College graduate with a Masters in Science Communication, Jan now works as a freelance science communicator. His interests focus on neuroscience, psychology and the environment.

Website

• Image by Klaus Gerwert
• Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany
• Copyright Elsevier 2014
• Research published in Biophysical Journal, May 2014