MBI offers a modern, open-lab platform, with well-managed state-of-the-art core facilities, to bring outstanding scientists and their projects to Singapore while providing high-quality training for students and scientists in quantitative systems approaches to the understanding of biomechanical functions.
The Bershadsky Lab
The Bershadsky Lab studies how cells move, and the physical forces necessary for cells to attach themselves to the substrate and to one another. In exploring the points of contact, which act as mechanical “sensors” that provide the cell with information about its environment and determine its behaviour, they have learned that in cancer cells, the activity of these “sensors” is disrupted, which likely accounts for the cell’s difficulty in adhering to substrates and, consequently, their greater mobility.
Li Lab
The diverse projects in Professor Rong Li’s lab contribute to two main research thrusts: cell and tissue aging; cellular and organismal adaptation. The study on aging focuses on understanding dynamic changes of crucial cellular components during the aging process and how these changes alter the mechanical functions of cells and tissues. The study of adaptation aims to understand the dynamics of genetic and epigenetic determinants of cells and tissues under acute or chronic stress which lead to adaptive behaviors ultimately beneficial or detrimental to the fitness of the organism.
Low Boon Chuan’S Lab
Low Boon Chuan’s lab works to identify novel signaling proteins and protein domains that control cell growth and tissue/organ development in normal and disease states. Areas of interest include cell signaling, domain-discovery, protein-protein interaction, structural biology, developmental biology, computational biology and mechanobiology.