What would a freshman expect when walking around in Bloomberg's infinite cellars, pondering what research might hide behind those massive wooden doors?
Daniel Reich, a professor of condensed-matter physics at Hopkins, opens one of the doors to reveal a laboratory that looks somewhat familiar from science-fiction movies.
There, he is working with a team of graduate students to develop advanced tools for modern biology research.
Yes, biology research happens even in Bloomberg, the esteemed physics center on the Homewood campus. Scientists like Reich are increasingly finding a niche in the fertile ground between two very different scientific disciplines.
His research team is working on methods to study the interactions of cells and their responses to external stimuli.
Biologists have been studying cells in detail for well over a century, but by applying the principles of physics, Reich and his colleagues hope to revolutionize the way we look at them.
The main idea of Reich's research is to put two cells in a trap where they have their own "private" spaces and can carry out their behaviors in isolation, where the researcher can observe them carefully.
"This is a very efficient way to align cells since they are not swimming around erratically like in a Petri dish," Reich said.
To achieve this, a film of metallic cobalt alloy is spread on a plate of glass and magnetized. Then, small holes are carved into the metal film leaving spots where there is no metal.
Since all elementary magnets in the film are aligned, the holes will also acquire a polarization, with a north pole at one end and a south pole at the other.
A few thousand traps are created. In order to let the cells become oriented to the magnets, little magnetic nano-wires are infused into the cells. One can picture these as tiny magnets that lie inside the cell.
The plate is exposed to a magnetic field from the outside. The magnetic field causes the cells to turn with the north pole down. After that, the surface is cleaned one more time and the outside field is reversed.
This means that the second set of cells will fall down with the south pole facing the plate, thereby constituting partners for the first set of the cells.
The result is an array of pairs of cells which are neatly organized. Putting cells in this reproducible arrangement has a huge range of possible applications.
"For example, we could study how cancer cells interact with other cells, but in more detail," Reich said.
Reich was trained in physics as an undergraduate at Harvard and a graduate student at the University of Chicago, a highly accomplished physics department.
How does a physicist get into so much biology? "I did my sabbatical in East Baltimore at the med school and basically began reading books about cell biology."
Reich particularly credits the influence of Christopher Chen, an assistant professor in the departments of biomedical engineering and oncology who has since moved to the University of Pennsylvania.
During his time at Hopkins, Chen and his team developed a microfabrication technique that allows construction of a type of nail bed on which cells can sit.
"This microfabrication technique is comparable to epoxy glue, but the outcome is that of a short, fat hairbrush," Reich said. Each cell sits on about 20 microposts, as the nails are called. One of the 20 microposts has a little magnetic nano-wire inside which reacts to an outside magnetic field.
As soon as the outside magnet is switched on, the cell experiences a stroke - the magnetized micropost is deflected and scratches the cell. "It is like tickling the cell," Reich said.
Researchers can then look at the cell's response, particularly where the cell reacts. "You tickle on the foot and record a response on the arm."
Here the physicist's and biologist's views can definitely diverge: A physicist would expect that the response is greatest near the applied force, at least in mechanical systems.
But here, in a biological system, the reaction is actually greater at the edges of the cell. Why this is true is one of the questions Reich pursues.
It is clear that research that connects physics and biology is at the forefront of modern science.
Reich himself is humble about his own contributions to the growing field, though. "Maybe we can develop a tool for other researchers," he concludes, as he starts packing his suitcase to head out to the next conference.
