Researchers combined two forms of photography that drastically reduces the destruction of cells:
The current microscope fills a 10-foot-long table. “It’s a bit of a Frankenstein’s monster right now,” says Betzig, who is moving to the University of California, Berkeley, in the fall. His team is working on a next-generation version that should fit on a small desk at a cost within the reach of individual labs. The first such instrument will go to Janelia’s Advanced Imaging Center, where scientists from around the world can apply to use it. Plans that scientists can use to create their own microscopes will also be made freely available. Ultimately, Betzig hopes that the adaptive optical version of the lattice microscope will be commercialized, as was the base lattice instrument before it. That could bring adaptive optics into the mainstream.
“If you really want to understand the cell in vivo, and image it with the quality possible in vitro, this is the price of admission,” he says.
This little guy wiggles and stretches like a piece of gum. I hope your two-dimensional perception of cells has been completely shattered. I’m reminded of the white blood cell chasing bacteria. The white blood cell footage was taken underneath glass slides which is why most cell footage appear to be cross-sections or two-dimensional.