A cell for your cell?

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!”