Science Lab

The knowledge portal of Leica Microsystems offers scientific research and teaching material on the subjects of microscopy. The content is designed to support beginners, experienced practitioners and scientists alike in their everyday work and experiments. Explore interactive tutorials and application notes, discover the basics of microscopy as well as high-end technologies – become part of the Science Lab community and share your expertise!

Factors to Consider When Selecting a Research Microscope

An optical microscope is often one of the central devices in a life-science research lab. It can be used for various applications which shed light on many scientific questions. Thereby the…

Mammalian cells can be distinguished according to their morphology. Fibroblasts (left) have a bipolar or multipolar shape. Epithelial-like cells (middle) show more regular dimensions and lymphoblast-like cells (right) are round and grow in suspension.

Introduction to Mammalian Cell Culture

Mammalian cell culture is one of the basic pillars of life sciences. Without the ability to grow cells in the lab, the fast progress in disciplines like cell biology, immunology, or cancer research…

Introduction to Widefield Microscopy

One of the most basic microscopy techniques is known as ‘Widefield Microscopy’. It is fundamentally any technique in which the entire specimen of interest is exposed to the light source with the…

Trachea in higher magnification (20x) H&E staining, brightfield.

Image Gallery: Application Options with Leica DM2500 LED Microscope

The number of applications in microscopy can be as manifold as life itself. Different specimens demand different contrast methods to get a decent result. Unstained cells normally do not show a very…

Introduction to Live-Cell Imaging

The understanding of complex and fast cellular dynamics is an important step to get insight into biological processes. Therefore, today’s life science research more and more demands studying…

Optical Contrast Methods

Optical contrast methods give the potential to easily examine living and colorless specimens. Different microscopic techniques aim to change phase shifts caused by the interaction of light with the…

Differential Interference Contrast (DIC)

Differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy is a good alternative to brightfield microscopy for gaining proper images of unstained specimens that often only provide a weak image in…