Saunders Group

Beyond the Trend: Creating the Next Frontier in Cell Biology

Beyond the Trend: Creating the Next Frontier in Cell Biology. A message from Prof. Rong Li, MBI Director and 2026 President of the American Society for Cell Biology.

By Andrew Ming-Shang|Jan 12th, 2026|Categories: News|Comments Off on Beyond the Trend: Creating the Next Frontier in Cell Biology

Violet vs. Blue: Controlling Mechanotransduction with a Single-protein Light Switch

In a study published in the Journal of Cell Science, led by Ryosuke Nishimura at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS, researchers developed an optogenetic tool to precisely manipulate talin’s structure and observe the resulting cellular behavior.

By Yee Shu Brenda|Jan 7th, 2026|Categories: Kanchanawong Lab, MBInsights, Science Features|Comments Off on Violet vs. Blue: Controlling Mechanotransduction with a Single-protein Light Switch

Zhang Shaobo

Alumni

Principal Investigator

Timothy Saunders

Research Interests

Mechanotransduction in Tissues Group

I joined the Saunders group on an internship as part of my Final Year Project during undergraduate study. The internship has been an amazing experience and helped me make up my mind to continue my journey in the mechanics of development – an exciting field which requires the integration of biology, physics, computer science and engineering.

My background during undergraduate study is in Bioinformatics (at Shanghai Jiao Tong University), and this has prepared me well for future exploration. I hope to use quantitative analysis techniques to study robust and precise cell matching processes. By applying embryonic Drosophila heart formation as a simplified matching system, I am looking forward to deciphering the deeper mechanisms of the cell targeting process about how cells find their partners in a complicated environment.

By Management|2020-10-21T10:04:29+08:00Apr 11th, 2017|Categories: Alumni|Comments Off on Zhang Shaobo

About the National University of Singapore

About NUSA leading global university centred in Asia, NUS is Singapore's flagship university, offering a global approach to education and research with a focus on Asian perspectives and expertise.

About the Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore

About MBIOne of four Research Centres of Excellence at NUS, MBI is working to identify, measure and describe how the forces for motility and morphogenesis are expressed at the molecular, cellular and tissue level.
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