Alterations in chromatin packing are not the only physical manifestations of cancer. A cluster of tumour cells will also usually display gross structural changes that pathologists use for diagnosis: cells look visibly deformed and are often enlarged, with swollen and misshapen nuclei; and the chromosomes are distri- buted eccentrically. In an attempt to study these chan- ges more accurately, researchers at ASU’s Biodesign Institute have developed an optical computerized tomography (CT) scan for individual cells. Like its better-known brain-scan counterpart, the cell version can create 3D images of single cells held in a gel-like suspension (figure 2), which eliminates the physical distortion inherent in mounting cells on slides to pro- duce 2D optical images
