Seeing the Unseeable

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and as such, different types of treatments must be quickly and efficiently produced. Before a treatment enters clinical trials, it must go through rigorous testing in cancer models, including immortalised cell lines and animal models. Traditionally, distribution of molecules within tissue is determined using fluorescent tags, which add a large molecule, affecting how it moves into and around cells. To get around this, a technique known as Raman scattering can be used. This looks at the vibrations of bonds within molecules to determine what they consist of, allowing specific molecules to be determined and differentiated. As well as drugs, biomolecules can also be identified, such as proteins, lipids and DNA. This allows us to be able to determine drug induced effects, without affecting the normal function of cells. This work uses both spontaneous and stimulated Raman scattering, alongside fluorescence microscopy to determine drug distribution in traditional cell culture models, as well as in three-dimensional modes which more accurately emulate a tumour. Chemometric analysis such as principal component analysis and spectral phasor analysis were also used to determine subtle differences in lipid content and identity.

To overcome global climate challenges, there is a need for renewable smart materials. Self-assembling molecules offer a potential pathway to develop new and exciting materials. To better understand these materials, we need techniques that can examine the microscale and nanoscale structures they form. What's more fun than firing X-rays at things for science!?

We learn in school that everything is made of atoms, and while that's not quite true it's close. But then we learn that atoms are made of protons, neutrons and electrons, and that protons and neutrons are made of particles called quarks. How do we know all this stuff is true? How did people find out in the first place? This makes for many fascinating stories.