Leica Microsystems: Leica Science Lab

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!

Fluorescence microscopy image on the left with no distinction between the fluorescent signal and background autofluorescence. FLIM was used in the image on the right to differentiate autofluorescence in chloroplasts (blue) from the desired fluorescent signal from the cell membrane (green).

Learn how to Remove Autofluorescence from your Confocal Images

Autofluorescence can significantly reduce what you can see in a confocal experiment. This article explores causes of autofluorescence as well as different ways to remove it, from simple media fixes to…

What is a Spectral Detector (SP Detector)?

The SP detector from Leica Microsystems denotes a compound detection unit for point scanning microscopes, in particular confocal microscopes. The SP detector splits light into up to 5 spectral bands.…

Which Sensor is the Best for Confocal Imaging?

The Hybrid Photodetectors (HyD) are! Why that is the case is explained in this short Science Lab article.

The Fundamentals and History of Fluorescence and Quantum Dots

At some point in your research and science career, you will no doubt come across fluorescence microscopy. This ubiquitous technique has transformed the way in which microscopists can image, tag and…

Introduction to Widefield Microscopy

This article gives an introduction to widefield microscopy, one of the most basic and commonly used microscopy techniques. It also shows the basic differences between widefield and confocal…

Photoactivatable, Photoconvertible, and Photoswitchable Fluorescent Proteins

Fluorescent proteins (FPs) such as GFP, YFP or DsRed are powerful tools to visualize cellular components in living cells. Nevertheless, there are circumstances when classical FPs reach their limits.…

Comparison when observing a rodent model organism with a Greenough versus CMO (common main objective) stereo microscope for a task like surgery.

Rodent and Small-Animal Surgery

Learn how you can perform rodent (mouse, rat, hamster) and small-animal surgery efficiently with a microscope for developmental biology and medical research applications by reading this article.

Fluorescence stereo microscope image of anesthetized Mediterranean fruit flies recorded with a M205 stereo microscope.

Investigating Fruit Flies (Drosophila melanogaster)

Learn how to image and investigate Drosophila fruit fly model organisms efficiently with a microscope for developmental biology applications from this article.

Studying Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans)

Find out how you can image and study C. elegans roundworm model organisms efficiently with a microscope for developmental biology applications from this article.