Impressions of the International Meeting on AFM in Biology and Medicine

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is gaining recognition as a powerful tool for life science researchers wanting nanoscale imaging and manipulation to study cells, molecules, and forces. At the first AFM BioMed conference, held in April in Barcelona, Spain, 19-21 April 2007, only 50 attendees were expected, but the response to the conference announcement was overwhelming: 220 researchers attended, with many of the pioneers in the development of AFM and of its use in biology giving talks. Topics covered cellular interactions, single-molecular recognition, affinity, unfolding force measurements, high-resolution imaging, protein-membrane interactions, and more.

Pierre Parot (Atomic Energy Commission, France) chaired the organizing committee. "The conference, which was standing room only, exceeded our expectations in its first year, effectively linking hundreds of international academic and industrial experts in life sciences involved in AFM and related techniques in medical/biological studies," he said. "The wide variety of applications evidence the potential of AFM technology in biomedical research."Michael Horton (Life Sciences Director at the London Centre for Nanotechnology) gave the closing address. "This conference emphasized the need to set up cross-disciplinary collaboration up front," he commented. "Now that AFM has a relatively firm footing in the life sciences, biologists are becoming innovators in the use and applications for AFM as much as physicists have been.