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36 BIOTECHNOLOGY


Fast, high-speed cell imaging takes centre stage


As the latest innovations demonstrate, cell imaging continues to play a key role in the development of the life sciences industry. And speed is key, as Sean Ottewell finds out.


Comme le démontrent les dernières innovations, l’imagerie cellulaire continue de jouer un rôle central dans le développement du secteur des sciences de la vie. Et la vitesse est devenue un enjeu majeur. Un reportage de Sean Ottewell.


Wie die neuesten Innovationen zeigen, spielt Cell Imaging auch weiterhin eine entscheidende Rolle bei der Entwicklung der Biowissenschaftsindustrie. Dabei kommt es vor allem auf Geschwindigkeit an, wie Sean Otterwell herausfindet.


S


cientists at the Department of Biochemistry, Te University of Oxford, rely


on a number of powerful imaging systems, several of which are supplied by Preston-based Image Solutions (UK). Teir efforts are directed to understand how cells become polarised during embryonic development.


Defects in this polarisation process are known to cause birth defects, and also are similar to the processes that go wrong in Alzheimer’s disease and Fragile X Syndrome.


By studying neurons of the fruit fly


Drosophila, the scientists are trying to understand how RNA moves and becomes localised during this process..


Cell extremities Professor Ilan Davis, Welcome Trust Senior Research Fellow with the Department of Biochemistry, explains: “We know that RNA has a role in its own right and one that can be localised in the cytoplasm a long way from the cell nucleus.


“A very good example of this occurs in Drosophila neurons, where the RNA can be localised at the cell extremities, where it is regulated


and controlled locally. Tis local control and regulation is known to be important in human diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Fragile X Syndrome.”


Professor Davis and his team use three DeltaVision Core systems and an OMX ‘super resolution’ instrument to study how RNA behaves in real time, in living cells.


Te DeltaVision Core is designed as an imaging workhorse to image a large number of probes and samples with great precision.


Te OMX is a more specialised


Fig. 1. The new microscope enables scientists to watch and measure fast- moving molecules.


Photograph courtesy: EMBL/H.Neves. www.scientistlive.com


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