The interface between the biological and physical sciences will be one of the most significant areas of scientific development during the 21st century. There is growing interest among biologists and clinicians in building closer engagement with physical scientists, and the realisation that many of the key challenges in the life sciences lend themselves to the tools of experimental and theoretical physics. After the breakthroughs by Crick and Watson in the 1950s, interest in biomedical sciences waned until it was regenerated as a major Cavendish theme over the last 15 years. Activities in these areas in the Laboratory now span a very wide range of topics, particularly in the development of new technologies for the biomedical sciences and the theoretical underpinning of these disciplines. The directions of research change quite rapidly with evolving capabilities and priorities and the examples below are just some of the most exciting advances which are currently being actively pursued in the Laboratory.

Research areas:

• Spectroscopic imaging modalities
• Studies in cell biology
• Dynamics of biological molecules and protein self-assembly
• Emergent phenomena in biology
• Transport processes through membranes
• Genome, epigenome and transcriptome of single cells
• Computational image processing and biosensor technologies