Have you always been drawn to the mathematical rigor of physics? Yet found that the most interesting problems were those in the purview of biology? Believe it or not, you can have it both ways.

A few researchers have always plied their trade at the interface between physics and biology. The ranks of such biological physicists are now growing at a rapid and accelerating rate. In this post-genomic age, the tools of physics will be needed to understand the gestalt of life, i.e. how the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. If working at the interface interests you, take a look at the ongoing projects in the lab.

Research Projects

The central theme of biophotonics is the interaction of biological systems with light. Our group is involved in research projects that investigate the physical mechanisms of laser ablation and laser-microsurgery. We also use these tools to probe the mechanics of biological systems.

Probing morphogenetic dynamics with laser-microsurgery

Imagine an apparently structureless, quiescent lump of material that is suddenly “activated” and begins a dramatic series of deformations. Ultimately, these deformations produce a complex, yet highly-organized, three-dimensional object. How would you determine the mechanisms of this self-assembling transformation? Dozens of such transformations take place daily in our Stevenson Center laboratory - i.e. fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) embryos develop into free-crawling larvae. As these embryos develop, forces generated within the embryos drive the cell shape changes and movements of morphogenesis. While biologists investigate the genetic program of development, physicists are needed to unravel its non-linear continuum mechanics. The tools we use to investigate these mechanics include confocal microscopy and laser-microsurgery.  To learn more, see the Explorations article or follow this link (More . . .)

Plasma and cavitation dynamics during UV laser-microsurgery in vivo

We use laser-microsurgery extensively to probe morphogenetic mechanics, but can we make it a quantitative tool? To do so, we need to have very good grasp of the ablation-associated plasma and cavitation dynamics. These dynamics have been well-studied in simple model systems like distilled water - an excellent first step - but biological systems obviously differ from water in important ways. We are studying the plasma and cavitation dynamics observed during pulsed laser microsurgery in a model biological system (fruit fly embryos) and have found important differences in the dynamics observed in water and those observed in the fly embryos (i.e. in vivo). One of these – physical constraint of cavitation bubbles by the biological matrix – was anticipated by previous investigators. The other – a reduction in the plasma threshold due to biological molecules that could serve as sources of seed electrons at low intensities – was not.

Sweeping away extraneous details is generally a strength of physicists; however, those of us working at the interface with biology are often criticized by our biological colleagues for broadly extrapolating from measurements in systems that are just too simple. In this case, we have made physical measurements on the fully complex in vivo system, compared the results to the very simple system of distilled water, and characterized the important ways that these two differ. To learn more, see the PRL article or follow the links in the News section below.

Physical mechanisms of tissue ablation with free electron lasers (FELs)

Although the Vanderbilt Mark-III FEL has been used successfully in human surgeries, it seems unlikely (due to cost and size constraints) that such FELs will ever find widespread use in patient care. Thus, the current challenge in the field is to translate the surgical successes of mid-IR FELs to cost-effective, compact, and dedicated medical laser systems. Guidance on how to do so will come from an improved physical understanding of mid-IR tissue ablation. More . . .

Integrating the genetics and mechanics of embryonic wound healing

When we use laser-microsurgery to create wounds in fly embryos, those wounds heal in a matter of minutes! Such wound healing is both a genetic and a mechanical process. Complete understanding requires both perspectives. Thanks to support from the Human Frontier Science program, we are now working with researchers at the Instituto de Medicina Molecula in Lisbon, Portugal and at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada to integrate the genetic and mechanical aspects of embryonic wound healing. Check back for more information as it becomes available.

People

**The suffix for all email addresses is @vanderbilt.edu unless otherwise noted.

Shane Hutson Assistant Professor Stevenson 6835 615-343-9980 shane.hutson@** curriculum vitae	Lab Phone Numbers:   615-343-7263 (fax)   615-343-0712 (Stevenson 6112)   615-343-7577 (FEL Center 206)
Xiaoyan Ma Postdoc Research Associate 615-322-3329 xiaoyan.ma@** Laser-microsurgery of Drosophila embryos.	Borislav Ivanov Research Associate 615-343-4908 borislav.ivanov@** Interplay of fluence and wavelength in FEL ablation.
Aroshan Jayasinghe Graduate Student 615-343-3383 aroshan.k.jayasinghe@** Analysis of proteins/peptides after FEL ablation.	Jason Rohner Graduate Student 615-343-5650 jason.a.rohner@** Computational modeling of Drosophila embryogenesis.
Holley Lynch Graduate Student 615-343-3383 holley.e.lynch@** Wound-healing after laser surgery in Drosophila embryos.	David Mashburn Graduate Student 615-343-5650 david.n.mashburn@** Computational modeling of embryonic wound-healing.
Tomas Yan Visiting Graduate Student Fisk University tom00907@yahoo.co* Microfluidic devices for studying C. elegans development.

Lab Alumni

Yaowu Xiao	Postdoc, Physics 2004-2006	Application Scientist, Entegris Inc.
Gilma Adunas-Rivas	M.S., Physics, 2006	Vanderbilt
Brett Rosenthal	Summer REU Student, Physics, 2008	Duke
Robert Gish	Summer REU Student, Physics, 2007	Vanderbilt
Elliott Kim	Summer REU Student, Biology, 2007	Vanderbilt
Peter Scully	UG Research Intern, Physics, 2006	Vanderbilt
MacRae Linton	UG Research Intern, Physics, 2006	Duke
Alanna Patsiokas	UG Research Intern, BME, 2004	Vanderbilt
Justine Hart	High School Research Intern, 2007
Lauren Hughes	High School Research Intern, 2006

 

Contact Information:

Dept of Physics and Astronomy Vanderbilt University Station B #351807 Nashville, TN 37235 USA

For Courier Deliveries: Dept of Physics and Astronomy 6301 Stevenson Center Nashville, TN 37235 USA

 

News & Events

News Stories on our Work

UV Laser Ablation

Vanderbilt Explorations article: How Lasers Cut Living Tissues

Biophotonics News:  Research probes physical mechanics of laser energy in living tissue

Wired Science: How Eye Surgery Lasers Cut Flesh

Laser Focus World: Laser scalpels interact with tissue in surprising ways

Medical News Today: At The Cutting Edge Of Surgery: New Insights Into How Lasers Cut Flesh

Cell Sorting

Vanderbilt Explorations article: Surface tension drives cell sorting

Science Centric:  Surface tension drives segregation within cell mixtures

Chemistry Times:  Surface tension drives segregation within cell mixtures

NewsWise:  Surface Tension Drives Segregation within Cell Mixtures

innovations report:  Surface Tension Drives Segregation within Cell Mixtures

Medical News Today:  3D Computer Model Finds Surface Tension Drives Segregation within Cell Mixtures

ScienceDaily:  Surface Tension Drives Segregation Within Cell Mixtures

Recent Publications & Presentations

Journal Articles and Book Chapters

M.S. Hutson, G.W. Brodland, J. Yang, and D. Viens (2008) “Cell Sorting in Three Dimensions: Topology, Fluctuations, and Fluidlike Instabilities”, Physical Review Letters 101: 148105 (4pp).

M.S. Hutson and X. Ma (2008) “Mechanical aspects of developmental biology: perspectives On Growth and Form in the (post)-genomic age”, Physical Biology 5(1): 015001 (8pp).

M.S. Hutson and X. Ma (2007) “Plasma and Cavitation Dynamics during Pulsed Laser Microsurgery in vivo”, Physical Review Letters 99(15): 158104 – 4 pages.

Y. Xiao, M. Guo, P. Zhang, G. Shanmugam, P. L. Polavarapu and M. S. Hutson (2008) “Wavelength-dependent conformational changes in collagen after mid-IR laser ablation of cornea”, Biophysical Journal 94(4): 1359-1366.

G.S. Edwards, R.D. Pearlstein, M.L. Copeland, M.S. Hutson, K. Latone, A. Spiro and G. Pasmanik (2007) “6450 nm wavelength tissue ablation using a nanosecond laser based on difference frequency mixing and stimulated Raman scattering” Optics Letters 32(11): 1426-1428.

X.G. Peralta, Y. Toyama, Y. Tokutake, M.S. Hutson, S. Venakides, D.P. Kiehart, and G.S. Edwards (2007) “Upregulation of forces and morphogenic asymmetries in dorsal closure during Drosophila development”, Biophysical Journal 92: 2583-2596.

Y. Xiao, M. Guo, K. Parker and M.S. Hutson (2006) “Wavelength-dependent collagen fragmentation during mid-IR laser ablation”, Biophysical Journal 91: 1424-1432 .

D.P. Kiehart, Y. Tokutake, M.–S. Chang, M.S. Hutson, J. Wiemann, X.G. Peralta, Y. Toyama, A.R. Wells, A. Rodriguez, and G.S. Edwards "Ultraviolet laser microbeam for dissection of Drosophila embryos", in Cell Biology: A Laboratory Handbook , 3rd Edition, edited by J.E. Celis, Chapter 9, pp. 87-103, (Elsevier, 2006) .

M.S. Hutson and G.S. Edwards (2004) “Advances in the Physical Understanding of Laser Surgery at 6.45 microns”, Proceedings of the 26th International Free Electron Laser Conference and 11th FEL Users Workshop, Published in JACOW: FRAIS01.

Y. Xiao, M.S. Hutson, M. Belenky, J. Herzfeld, M. Braiman, "Role of arginine-82 in fast proton release during the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle: a time-resolved FT-IR study of purple membranes containing 15N-labeled arginine.", Biochemistry, 43 : 12809-12818 (2004).

G.S. Edwards, R.H. Austin, F.E. Carroll, M.L. Copeland, M.E. Couprie, W.E. Gabella, R.F. Haglund, B.A. Hooper, M.S. Hutson, E.D. Jansen, K.M. Joos, D.P. Kiehart, I. Lindau, J. Miao, H.S. Pratisto, J.H. Shen, Y. Tokutake, L. van der Meer, A. Xie, "FEL-based biophysical and biomedical instrumentation", Review of Scientific Instruments 74 : 3207-3245 (2003).

M.S. Hutson and G.S. Edwards, "Advantages of the Mark-III FEL for biophysical research and biomedical applications." Journal of Synchrotron Radiation 10 : 354-357 (2003).

M.S. Hutson, Y. Tokutake, M.-S. Chang, J.W. Bloor, S. Venakides, D.P. Kiehart, G.S. Edwards, "Forces for morphogenesis investigated with laser-microsurgery and quantitative modeling" Science 300 : 145-149 (2003).

M.S. Hutson, S.A. Hauger and G. Edwards, "Thermal diffusion and chemical kinetics in laminar biomaterial due to heating by a free-electron laser." Physical Review E 65 , 061906 (2002).

M.S. Hutson, R.A. Palmer, M.-S. Chang, A. Gillikin, V. Litvinenko and G. Edwards, "Commissioning of a UV/Time-Resolved-FTIR Beamline at the Duke FEL Laboratory." Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A , 483 : 560-564 (2002).

Conference Presentations

X. Ma and M.S. Hutson “Laser Hole-Drilling as a Probe of Morphogenetic Stresses in Embryonic Epithelia: Experimental Observations” American Physical Society March Meeting, New Orleans, LA, March 2008.

M.S. Hutson , X. Ma , J. Veldhuis and G.W. Brodland “Laser Hole-Drilling as a Probe of Morphogenetic Stresses in Embryonic Epithelia: Finite Element Models” American Physical Society March Meeting, New Orleans, LA, March 2008.

X. Ma and M.S. Hutson “Recoil Dynamics after Laser Ablation of Single Cell Edges in Embryonic Epithelia” American Physical Society March Meeting, Denver, CO, March 2007.

M.S. Hutson, G. Adunas and Y. Xiao “Confounding Effect of Spot-Size on the Wavelength-Dependence of Tissue Ablation Metrics” American Physical Society March Meeting, Denver, CO, March 2007.

M.S. Hutson, Y. Xiao and M. Guo, "Protein structural failure in mid-IR laser ablation of cornea" High Power Laser Ablation VI, SPIE 6261: 62612N, Taos , NM , 2006.

X. Ma, P. Scully and M.S. Hutson, “Determination of Intercellular Forces during Drosophila Embryogenesis” American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, December 2006.

X. Ma and M.S. Hutson, “Quantifying the Intercellular Forces during Drosophila Morphogenesis” American Physical Society March Meeting, Baltimore, MD, March 2006.

M.S. Hutson and Y. Xiao “Wavelength-Dependent Conformational Changes of Collagen in Mid-IR Ablation” American Physical Society March Meeting, Baltimore, MD, March 2006.

S. Hutson, G. Adunas-Rivas, Y. Xiao, "Energy Partitioning in FEL Tissue Ablation" American Physical Society March Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, 2005.

Y. Xiao, G. Adunas-Rivas, and S. Hutson, "FTIR spectroscopy of the non-volatile components of the plume during laser ablation of cornea" American Chemical Society Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, 2005.

M.S. Hutson and G.S. Edwards ( Invited ), "Advances in the Physical Understanding of Laser Surgery at 6.45 microns"11th User’s Workshop, 2004 Free Electron Laser Conference, Trieste, Italy, 2004.

S. Hutson, G. Adunas, X. Ma, "Interplay of Fluence and Wavelength in Soft Tissue Ablation with an IR-FEL" Southeast Section of the American Physical Society, Oak Ridge, TN, 2004.

M.S. Hutson, Y. Tokutake, M. Chang, JW Bloor, S Venakides, DP Kiehart, GS Edwards, "Measuring the forces that drive morphogenesis: Laser-microsurgery and quantitative modeling applied to dorsal closure in Drosophila" American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, Dec 2002.

M.S. Hutson and G.S. Edwards, "Heat diffusion and chemical kinetics in systems with spatially-segregated domains during tunable-IR laser exposure." Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 2002.

      Last Updated: November 4, 2008