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Powerful new microscope sees cell division in real time

"This really lets you look at the dynamic processes in cells in 3-D non-invasively," said Eric Betzig.

By Brooks Hays
Cellular processes can be seen in greater detail than ever before thanks to the lattice light sheet microscope. (Betzig Lab, HHMI/Janelia Research Campus, Mimori-Kiyosue Lab, RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology)
Cellular processes can be seen in greater detail than ever before thanks to the lattice light sheet microscope. (Betzig Lab, HHMI/Janelia Research Campus, Mimori-Kiyosue Lab, RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology)

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- A team of more than 30 scientists -- including Eric Betzig, who just won the Nobel Prize for his work in microscopy -- have developed a super-powered microscope capable of seeing cellular life in greater detail than ever before.

Using sheets of light to scan cells, the microscope can capture closeups at the molecular level, dividing in real time -- a feat scientists previously thought to be impossible. The technology, called the lattice light sheet microscope, offers imagery at a resolution of up to 230 nanometers and can capture 1,000 frames per second.

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"This really lets you look at the dynamic processes in cells in 3-D non-invasively," Betzig, an engineering physicist, told Popular Mechanics. "We can go small for single-molecule imaging, or move up to study multiple organelles interacting inside a cell, or how cells interact with their environments and other cells."

"On the biggest scale, we can look at developmental biology," he added. "I'm amazed at my four children, and all the events that had to happen in a precise way for the perfection that has come out at the end."

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The engineers who helped develop the hardware have teamed with a range of biologists to utilize their new tool, recording stunning videos of biological processes -- including isolated processes like the movement of cellular proteins, as well as more expansive activity, like the development of animal embryos.

Ultimately, scientists hope their new development won't be limited in scope, but be adapted to advance all kinds of scientific investigations.

"This is not a single imaging technique," explained Kai Wang, one of the technology's inventors and author of a new paper on the microscope's development. "It's an imaging platform."

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