Pulling membranes off cells

German scientists are ripping cells apart to study their elasticity.

Elasticity allows a cell to perform many fundamental processes, such as migration, adhesion and interaction. Investigating how a cell's individual components contribute to its overall elasticity is therefore of vital interest for scientists trying to understand how these processes work. However, gauging the membranes' contribution has proved to be difficult, in particular at smaller than micrometre length scales.

More: http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/Journals/cb/Volume/2009/7/Pulling_membranes.asp