A lattice light-sheet microscope image of a cell in prophase, showing histones (orange) and 3-D tracks of growing microtubule ends color-coded by velocity.HHMI, BETZIG LAB
Every imaging technique has its drawbacks. Even the super-resolution microscopy that earned Eric Betzig and his colleagues the Nobel Prize in Chemistry earlier this month requires a tradeoff between detail and speed. Measurements that produce single-molecule resolution take time, and eventually, light exposure can bleach fluorescent molecules and damage living cells.
To overcome these problems, Betzig and his team at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia, developed “lattice light-sheet microscopy,” which illuminates one thin section of living sample at a time using a targeted plane of light. The new technology, reported today (October 23) in Science, minimizes light damage and photobleaching, and is nimble enough to track the movements of single molecules in three dimensions over time.
“Plane illumination is ...
