Confocal Microscopy
Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM) is one of a series of methods to generate slices from microscopic samples by means of optics. The sample stays intact, and the slicing may be repeated many times. True Confocal Scanning (TCS) is a technique, where only a single, diffraction limited spot is illuminated and observed at a time. The benefit of confocal imaging is a dramatically increased contrast by removal of out-of-focus haze. Z-sequences of optical slices (3D image stacks) are sources for subsequent rendering as anaglyphes, depth-coded maps or 3D movies. TCS is also very well compatible with multi-fluorescence imaging, time-lapse imaging, FLIM, FRAP and FCS measurements - plus a whole world of spectral applications.
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Article
16. Apr 2012 Institutes: VIB Center for the Biology of Disease, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Center for Human Genetics, somersault18:24One of the crucial tasks of a research scientist is reporting and communicating about his work. This is vital for cutting edge research; it is crucial to gain insights from other experts, to get a discussion going, to improve, to be able to get some funding, to convince other colleagues that your… Read article
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Tutorial
24. Feb 2012 Institute: Leica Microsystems, Wetzlar, GermanyThe understanding of complex and/or fast cellular dynamics is an important step for exploring biological processes. Therefore, today’s life science research is increasingly focusing on dynamic processes like cell migration, morphological changes of cells, organs or whole animals and physiological… Read article
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Article
23. Feb 2012 Institute: Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Biophysics, Brno Czech RepublicUnderstanding how DNA lesions are optimally repaired is of functional significance, especially from the view of genome karyotype stability. Read article
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Article
10. Feb 2012 Institute: Leica Microsystems, Wetzlar, GermanyOptogenetics is a technique that allows light-controlled responses of transfected cells. The cells are genetically modified by introduction of genes that code for light-induced channels or ion pumps. The term optogenetics denotes the light control feature introduced by genetic engineering. Read article
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Webinar
09. Feb 2012 Institutes: CDB RIKEN, Kobe, Japan, Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC), Strasbourg, France, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, (EMBL), Heidelberg, GermanyMorphogenesis -- literally “shape creation” – is responsible for the diversity of biological shapes that make up Darwin’s “endless forms most beautiful and wonderful”. In recent years, the combination of cutting edge microscopy and molecular approaches in developmental, cell, and molecular biology… Read article
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Article
07. Feb 2012 Institutes: University of California, Molecular and Cell Biology, Berkeley, CA, USA, Harvard Medical School, Department of Cell Biology, Boston, MA, USA, American Society for Cell Biology, Bethesda, MD, USAThe need for data validation and accessibility has never been greater than it is today. We are inundated with information from a multitude of resources, but how can we easily evaluate the accuracy of that data? In the past, the peer review process provided this and was often run by publishers. Read article
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Tutorial
15. Dec 2011 Institute: PicoQuant GmbH, Berlin, GermanyThe characterization of substances at the single molecule level has become part of the standard repertoire of scientific research institutes. One of the most common methods is Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS), which can be used to examine the dynamics and concentration of fluorescent… Read article
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Tutorial
09. Dec 2011 Institute: Leica Microsystems, Wetzlar, GermanyFluorescence Microscopy usually employs incident light illumination. This requires a device that directs the light for illumination into the sample and transmits the light emitted by the sample to the detection system. In the past, various types of mirrors were the only option. Today, the acousto… Read article
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Tutorial
09. Dec 2011 Institute: Leica Microsystems, Wetzlar, GermanyTo separate fractions of the emission for recording channels that reproduce the emission of individual fluorochromes, it is necessary to spatially disperse the emission spectrally. This is possible by employing dichroic mirrors or a genuine dispersive element like a prism or a grating. Read article
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Tutorial
09. Dec 2011 Institute: Leica Microsystems, Wetzlar, GermanyFluorescence excitation needs specifically colored light. In confocal microscopy, multiline lasers or laser batteries are classically used. This requires devices that pick the requested lines fitting the currently employed fluorochromes. Intensity control is a second task that must be accomplished. Read article
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Tutorial
28. Nov 2011 Institute: Leica Microsystems, Wetzlar, GermanyFast FRAP experiments need a sufficient number of measurement points for meaningful interpretation and fitting analysis and can be performed with a resonant scanner (RS). But some extra precaution is needed. We will show how to deal with the short pixel time and the lack of fast zoom in. Read article
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Tutorial
23. Nov 2011 Institute: Leica Microsystems, Wetzlar, GermanyFRAP (Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching) can be used to study cellular protein dynamics: For visualization the protein of interest is fused to a fluorescent protein or a fluorescent dye. A region of interest (ROI) can be monitored applying a high amount of light to bleach the fluorescence… Read article
Events
Useful Links
Don't miss our interactive tutorial
Step by Step Guide to Hybrid Detection and Photon Counting
Communities and Web Sources
www.researchgate.net/
Social network for scientists
www.lsoft.com/scripts/wl.exe?SL1=CONFOCALMICROSCOPY&H=LISTS.UMN.EDU
Confocal Microscopy Mailing List, University of Minnesota
bitesizebio.com
Online magazine and community for molecular and cell biology researchers
www.somersault1824.com
Resource for high-end scientific illustrations, images and animations
Search Engines and Data Bases
www.cellimagelibrary.org
Public resource database of images, videos, and animations of cells
harvester.fzk.de/harvester
Bioinformatic meta search engine for genes and proteins
www.gopubmed.com
Search interface for pubmed
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_academic_databases_and_search_engines
List of academic databases and search engines
scholar.google.com
Beta of Google's search engine for scientific article abstracts
Journals
www.doaj.org/
Directory of open access journals
www.lifescied.org
CBE-Life Sciences Education – an ASCB online journal
www.sciencemag.org/
Science
www.nature.com/
Nature
www.cell.com/
Biweekly publication of exceptional research articles
jcs.biologists.org/
Journal of Cell Science
dev.biologists.org/
Development
jeb.biologists.org/
The Journal of Experimental Biology
dmm.biologists.org/
DMM Disease Models & Mechanisms
www.biotechniques.com/
International Journal of Life Science Methods
www.opticsinfobase.org/
Collection of Journals and Proceedings in Optics and Photonics
spie.org/x576.xml
SPIE - peer-reviewed journals on applied research in optics and photonics
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1864-0648
Journal of Biophotonics
www.plosone.org/home.action
International, peer-reviewed, open-access, online publication
rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/
Proceedings B - the Royal Society's biological research journal
www.microscopy-analysis.com/
International Journal for microscopists
www.optoiq.com/index/biophotonics/biomedical-imaging/bow-microscopy.html
News and features on biomedical microscopy
Organizations
www.microscopy.org/
Microscopy Society of America
www.eurmicsoc.org/
European Microscopy Society
www.rms.org.uk/
Royal Microscopical Society
www.ascb.org/
ASCB American Society of Cell Biology
www.biologists.com/cob_activities.html
the company of biologists
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