Craig Brodersen Lab Research Demo
Yale School of the Environment
Professor Craig Brodersen demonstrated a pioneering laser-based method for measuring pressure changes inside plant cells – research that could help develop more drought-resistant crops.
In a room at Greeley Memorial Laboratory, Brodersen uses a laser to vaporize liquid within a plant cell, creating a microscopic bubble that dissolves in a fraction of a second. By capturing the bubble’s maximum size with a high-speed camera filming at over 100,000 frames per second, his team can calculate the internal pressure that allows plants to open and close their stomata – the tiny pores that regulate water loss and carbon absorption. This technique, developed with an interdisciplinary team of biologists, physicists, and engineers, has already been tested on more than 40 plant species and opens new possibilities for understanding plant evolution and improving water-efficiency in agriculture.
Greeley Memorial Laboratory, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Canon 5D MKIII w/ Canon EF 24-70mm and 70-200mm f/2.8
