Through a national undergraduate research programme, third-year aerospace student Liu Xinran co-led a review on the mechanics of the cell nucleus in Advanced Science.
Liu Xinran, a third-year undergraduate in NUAA's College of Aerospace Engineering, is co-first author, with PhD student Chen Xin, of the review "Multiscale Architecture and Mechanics of the Cell Nucleus: Implications for Disease, Bioengineering and Nanomedicine", published in Advanced Science with NUAA as the first affiliation.
The work was carried out through the national Undergraduate Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program at the State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control for Aerospace Structures, with partners including Peking Union Medical College Hospital. The review brings together nano- to micro-scale knowledge of how the cell nucleus behaves mechanically, compares measurement methods such as atomic force microscopy and optical tweezers, and discusses applications including targeted nano-delivery, AI-assisted "mechanical diagnosis" and tumour mechanotherapy. The college brings undergraduates into research labs from their early years.