HudsonAlpha iCell salutes institute collaborations

Digital Radiance, one of the 13 resident companies located at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, announces the release of HudsonAlpha iCell, a free application now available on Apple’s App Store.   Ron Phillips, president of Digital Radiance, said, “HudsonAlpha iCell is a biological cell visualization tool for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.” For the first time students and teachers can directly manipulate detailed 3-D models of a plant cell, an animal cell and a bacterial cell by touching to rotate, zoom and identify cell structures.

The idea for the application sprang from HudsonAlpha Cell, a feature in the HudsonAlpha digital education lineup.  “We contracted with Digital Radiance to help us in the creation of an interactive learning tool that would launch from the institute’s Web site,” said Dr. Neil Lamb, director of educational outreach at the non-profit HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology.  “We recently upgraded the alpha version and in the process Ron and his group had the idea for the Apple application.”

“Many biology students have difficulty remembering the parts of a cell or visualizing the structure, so this free app can really help,” said Phillips.

Phillips noted that he and his staff are honored to support the institute’s mission of putting breakthrough educational technology into the hands of students and teachers as quickly and inexpensively as possible. “Besides, we think a cell phone really should have a cell app!”

Media Contact: Beth Pugh
bpugh@hudsonalpha.org
256-327-0443

About HudsonAlpha: HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology is a nonprofit institute dedicated to innovating in the field of genomic technology and sciences across a spectrum of biological problems. Its mission is three-fold: sparking scientific discoveries that can impact human health and well-being; fostering biotech entrepreneurship; and encouraging the creation of a genomics-literate workforce and society. The HudsonAlpha biotechnology campus consists of 152 acres nestled within Cummings Research Park, the nation’s second largest research park. Designed to be a hothouse of biotech economic development, HudsonAlpha’s state-of-the-art facilities co-locate scientific researchers with entrepreneurs and educators. The relationships formed on the HudsonAlpha campus allow serendipity to yield results in medicine and agriculture. Since opening in 2008, HudsonAlpha, under the leadership of Dr. Richard M. Myers, a key collaborator on the Human Genome Project, has built a name for itself in genetics and genomics research and biotech education, and boasts 26 biotech companies on campus.