Science Daily reports that scientists at Ohio State University are commencing a study of how asbestos fibers interact with proteins on cell surfaces to determine, possibly, how these interactions might be a cause of what makes the cells go malignant and form mesothelioma and asbestos cancer tumors. The interesting part is that the researchers are using a technology called “atomic force microscopy” that was developed in the mid-1980s. The best way to think of an atomic force microscope is to think of an old-fashioned phonograph needle (this, of course, means you have to be beyond a certain age), except the needle is really, really tiny, small enough to bounce off individual atoms. The needle gets dragged over the surface to be studied (in most applications, it doesn’t actually touch the surface) and the surface is represented in a 3-D image. Curiously, the first fiber chosen to be studied in this way will crocidolite, an amphibole fiber that was not used in many applications in the US, it was widely used in Europe and Japan, however. The article says the work is supported by the National Science Foundation, but whenever one sees research like this one wonders about how it will be used, or abused, in mesothelioma litigation.
Tags: mesothelioma
