Growing microtubule endpoints and tracks are color coded by growth phase lifetime.
Credit: Betzig Lab, HHMI/Janelia Research Campus, Mimori-Kiyosue Lab, RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology
A new discovery out of Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus is allowing biologists to see 3-D images of subcellular activity in real time.
They’re calling it lattice light sheet microscopy, and it’s providing yet another leap forward for light microscopy. The imaging platform was developed by Eric Betzig and colleagues in order to collect high-resolution images rapidly and minimize damage to cells.
Continue reading to check out the amazing video that shows the five different stages during the division of a HeLa cell as visualized by the lattice light sheet microscope.
This from Howard Hughes Medical Institute:
The new microscope evolved from one Betzig unveiled in 2011. The Bessel beam plane illumination microscope illuminates samples with a virtual sheet of light, created when a beam of non-diffracting light called a Bessel beam sweeps across the imaging field. It produces high-resolution images with less light damage than a traditional microscope, and is fast enough to record dynamic processes in living cells.
Scientists can use the lattice light sheet microscope for their own research by submitting a proposal to Janelia’s Advanced Imaging Center.
Can’t get enough microscopy? Check out our summer issue of Interface, entitled “25 Years of Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy.” Also, head over to the Digital Library to read other studies by Betzig. While you’re there, don’t forget to sign up for our free e-Alerts!
