The Manalis Lab studies the mechanical and biophysical changes that occur during cell division. In this experiment, researchers track the organization of the plasma membrane (red/yellow) as a live human adenocarcinoma cell divides in two.

A lingering plasma bridge (center) contains remnants of DNA (blue) that failed to separate between the daughter cells. Such segregation errors can result in mutations that can initiate and drive cancer.

Understanding how plasma membrane movement is regulated as normal and cancer cells divide could help explain how mutations arise and how to prevent them.