Magnus Andersson

Profile

Affiliate Associate Professor.

Develops optical tools to probe biology at the border of physics and chemistry.

Magnus is a physicist working at the border of physics, chemistry, and biology. He is the head of the Biophysics and Biophotonics group located at the Department of Physics at Umeå University. For 20 years, he has developed optical tweezers tools that are used to study biophysical and physicochemical properties of cells, bacteria, and spores on the single-cell level. Using in-house designed optical tweezers, the group is experts on force measurements and micro-Raman spectroscopy. Of special interest is single molecule/organelle force measurements that provide information on how bacteria can attach to surfaces and vibration spectroscopy to measure the chemical content of spores.

Magnus’s research also aims to develop image-processing algorithms and software development for tracking organisms. And, to confine organisms, the group develop microfluidic systems using 3D-printing technology.

Current Projects

How do interconnected networks of cells emerge during wood formation?

Collaborators – Stephane Verger; Funding: Kempestiftelserna
Biophysical and Physicochemical Fingerprinting of Single Bacterial Spores

Collaborators – Swedish Defense Research Establishment (FOI); Funding: Vetenskapsrådet
The glymphatic pathway of the brain – A factor in dementia?

Collaborator – Anders Eklund, Anders Wåhlin, Jan Malm, Katrine Riklund, Funding: Stiftelsen för strategisk forskning (SSF)
Identification of key adhesion mechanisms in pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria – Characterization and analysis of bacterial adhesion

Collaborators – Esther Bullitt (Boston University School of Medicine), Joseph Baker (The College of New Jersey), Anton Zavialov (University of Turku), Bernt Eric Uhlin (UmU)

The Latest Posts

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Quit: Book Club Snapshot

Quit: Book Club Snapshot

Quit: A Book Club Snapshot In ‘Quit’ Annie Duke explores the critical moments when walking away can be more beneficial than sticking it out, highlighting the rewards of quitting and the challenges [...]

IceLab kickoff conference propels stress response research

IceLab kickoff conference propels stress response research

IceLab kickoff conference propels stress response research The kickoff conference for IceLab’s VR-funded Center of Excellence with support from KAW and Kempestiftelserna, held on June 10th and 11th at Umeå University, marked [...]

Model how a microbe can tell a friend from a foe

Model how a microbe can tell a friend from a foe

Model how a microbe can tell a friend from a foe 17 projects from Swedish universities were granted from the SciLifeLab and Wallenberg national program for data-driven life science. Eric Libby and [...]

Open invitation to the IceLab Stress Response Modeling kick-off

Open invitation to the IceLab Stress Response Modeling kick-off

Open invitation to the IceLab Stress Response Modeling kick-off Umeå University life science and environmental researchers are invited to participate when IceLab launches its excellence center on stress response modeling. The kick-off [...]

Life’s insiders: Decoding endosymbiosis with mathematics

Life’s insiders: Decoding endosymbiosis with mathematics

Life’s insiders: Decoding endosymbiosis with mathematics Endosymbiosis, the intimate and long-term relationship where one organism lives inside another, is a cornerstone of life as we know it, and a key to [...]

IceLab opens project call for shared postdoctoral fellows

IceLab opens project call for shared postdoctoral fellows

IceLab opens project call for shared postdoctoral fellows IceLab invites multidisciplinary research teams to propose projects for a shared postdoctoral fellow, funded by Kempestiftelserna. Project proposals can now be submitted, until May [...]