What is Nanobiomechanics?
“Nanobiomechanics” is a relatively rarely-used word used to describe the mechanics of living cells in action. The “nano” prefix is somewhat of a buzzword, because the relevant length scales of living cells are measured in micrometers, not nanometers, although some of the relevant forces occur on the nanometer scale. Because cells are the building blocks of all living things, understanding their nanobiomechanics is helpful to predicting and analyzing their macro-scale properties. One researcher in nanobiomechanics, Subra Suresh, a materials scientist at MIT, is a pioneer of applying nanoscale measurement to living cells. In one experiment, he measured the difference in physical properties between healthy red blood cells and red blood cells infected with malaria parasites. Using tiny sensors that can measure forces as small as a piconewton (one trillionth of a newton), Suresh determined that red blood cells infected with malaria were 10 times more rigid than healthy red blood cells, thre
