Posts Tagged ‘microscopy’

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Spider skin image winner of FEI/National Geographic contest

Wednesday, February 13th, 2013

In a July 4, 2012 posting, I described an FEI/National Geographic image contest “Explore the Unseen” which was then open for entries. FEI, a microscopy company, runs the contest annually and in 2012 partnered with National Geographic to offer a grand prize that featured two coach class tickets to a US destination of the winner’s choosing and inclusion of their image in a special gallery promoting National Geographic’s film, “Invisible Worlds.”

The grand prize winner has been announced in a Feb. 13, 2013 news item on Azonano,

FEI is proud to announce that María Carbajo of the Electron Microscopy Unit in the Research Support Services of the University of Extremadura has been awarded the grand prize in the 2012 FEI Owner Image Contest for her entry “Spider Skin”.

FEI asked vistors to their website to vote for their favorite image among the monthly winners. A total of nearly 1000 votes were received and María Carbajo’s image, Spider Skin, narrowly beat out other worthy images.

María’s entry shows the texture of the skin of a spider, with a hair root and brochosomes from a leafhopper preyed upon by the spider.

The following “Spider Skin” image and its technical details were downloaded from FEI’s 2012 contest winners (undated) news release,

Image Details: Instrument used:QUANTA 3D FEG Magnification: 12000x Horizontal Field Width: 24.9 Vacuum: 2.7e-3 Pa Voltage: 10kV Spot: 5 Working Distance: 10 Detector: ETD Credit: María Carbajo of the Electron Microscopy Unit in the Research Support Services of the University of Extremadura

Image Details:
Instrument used:QUANTA 3D FEG
Magnification: 12000x
Horizontal Field Width: 24.9
Vacuum: 2.7e-3 Pa
Voltage: 10kV
Spot: 5
Working Distance: 10
Detector: ETD
Credit: María Carbajo of the Electron Microscopy Unit in the Research Support Services of the University of Extremadura

You can find more images that were submitted to the contest here.

 

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Self-assembling liquid lenses used in optical microscopy to reveal nanoscale objects

Monday, January 21st, 2013

A Jan. 21, 2013 news item on Azonano highlights some research on microscope and self-assembling lenses done at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA),

By using tiny liquid lenses that self-assemble around microscopic objects, a team from UCLA’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science has created an optical microscopy method that allows users to directly see objects more than 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair.

Coupled with computer-based computational reconstruction techniques, this portable and cost-effective platform, which has a wide field of view, can detect individual viruses and nanoparticles, making it potentially useful in the diagnosis of diseases in point-of-care settings or areas where medical resources are limited.

The UCLA Jan. 20, 2013 news release, written by Matthew Chin and which originated the news item, explains why another microscopy technique is needed for viewing objects at the nanoscale,

Electron microscopy is one of the current gold standards for viewing nanoscale objects. This technology uses a beam of electrons to outline the shape and structure of nanoscale objects. Other optical imaging–based techniques are used as well, but all of them are relatively bulky, require time for the preparation and analysis of samples, and have a limited field of view — typically smaller than 0.2 square millimeters — which can make viewing particles in a sparse population, such as low concentrations of viruses, challenging.

To overcome these issues, the UCLA team, led by Aydogan Ozcan, an associate professor of electrical engineering and bioengineering, developed the new optical microscopy platform by using nanoscale lenses that stick to the objects that need to be imaged. This lets users see single viruses and other objects in a relatively inexpensive way and allows for the processing of a high volume of samples.
…

At scales smaller than 100 nanometers, optical microscopy becomes a challenge because of its weak light-signal levels. Using a special liquid composition, nanoscale lenses, which are typically thinner than 200 nanometers, self-assemble around objects on a glass substrate.

A simple light source, such as a light-emitting diode (LED), is then used to illuminate the nano-lens object assembly. By utilizing a silicon-based sensor array, which is also found in cell-phone cameras, lens-free holograms of the nanoparticles are detected. The holograms are then rapidly reconstructed with the help of a personal computer to detect single nanoparticles on a glass substrate.

The researchers have used the new technique to create images of single polystyrene nanoparticles, as well as adenoviruses and H1N1 influenza viral particles.

While the technique does not offer the high resolution of electron microscopy, it has a much wider field of view — more than 20 square millimeters — and can be helpful in finding nanoscale objects in samples that are sparsely populated.

Here a citation for and a link to the research article,

Wide-field optical detection of nanoparticles using on-chip microscopy and self-assembled nanolenses by Onur Mudanyali, Euan McLeod, Wei Luo, Alon Greenbaum, Ahmet F. Coskun, Yves Hennequin, Cédric P. Allier, & Aydogan Ozcan. Nature Photonics (2013) doi:10.1038/nphoton.2012.337 Published online: 20 January 2013

The article is behind a paywall.

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It really is a nanoscale window into the biological world

Friday, December 21st, 2012

The researchers at Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute (VTC Research Institute) have sandwiched together a couple of chips, each with a hole (window) in the middle giving themselves a peek into biological processes as they occur, they hope. Here’s a more technical explanation from the Dec. 20, 2012 news release on EurekAlert,

Investigators at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute have invented a way to directly image biological structures at their most fundamental level and in their natural habitats. The technique is a major advancement toward the ultimate goal of imaging biological processes in action at the atomic level.

…

The technique involves taking two silicon-nitride microchips with windows etched in their centers and pressing them together until only a 150-nanometer space between them remains. The researchers then fill this pocket with a liquid resembling the natural environment of the biological structure to be imaged, creating a microfluidic chamber.

Then, because free-floating structures yield images with poor resolution, the researchers coat the microchip’s interior surface with a layer of natural biological tethers, such as antibodies, which naturally grab onto a virus and hold it in place.

The lead researcher describes the difference between the usual imaging techniques and their newly developed technique (from the EurekAlert news release),

“It’s sort of like the difference between seeing Han Solo frozen in carbonite and watching him walk around blasting stormtroopers,” said Deborah Kelly, an assistant professor at the VTC Research Institute and a lead author on the paper describing the first successful test of the new technique. “Seeing viruses, for example, in action in their natural environment is invaluable.”

Ken Kingery’s Dec. ??, 2012 Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute article, which originated the news release, describes the specific virus the researchers used the ‘window’ to spy on,

Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhea among infants and children. By the age of five, nearly every child in the world has been infected at least once. And although the disease tends to be easily managed in the developed world, in developing countries rotavirus kills more than 450,000 children a year.

At the second step in the pathogen’s life cycle, rotavirus sheds its outer layer, which allows it to enter a cell, and becomes what is called a double-layered particle. Once its second layer is exposed, the virus is ready to begin using the cell’s own infrastructure to produce more viruses. It was the viral structure at this stage that the researchers imaged in the new study.

Kelly and McDonald [Sarah McDonald, an assistant professor at the VTC Research Institute] coated the interior window of the microchip with antibodies to the virus. The antibodies, in turn, latched onto the rotaviruses that were injected into the microfluidic chamber and held them in place. The researchers then used a transmission electron microscope to image the prepared slide.

The technique worked perfectly.

The experiment gave results that resembled those achieved using traditional freezing methods to prepare rotavirus for electron microscopy, proving that the new technique can deliver accurate results. “It’s the first time scientists have imaged anything on this scale in liquid,” said Kelly.

There’s more to work to be done of course as the researchers refine the technique and try to ‘spy’ on more of the processes. In the meantime, the paper about this latest imaging research will be published in print in 2013 or it can be viewed online now (this is a open access article in a journal published by the Royal Society of Chemistry [RSC], you will need to sign up but this too is free),

Visualizing viral assemblies in a nanoscale biosphere
Brian L. Gilmore ,  Shannon P. Showalter ,  Madeline J. Dukes ,  Justin R. Tanner ,  Andrew C. Demmert ,  Sarah M. McDonald and Deborah F. Kelly

Lab Chip, 2013,13, 216-219

DOI: 10.1039/C2LC41008G Received 15 Jun 2012, Accepted 13 Nov 2012 First published on the web 19 Nov 201

 

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All about the University of Calgary and its microscopy and imaging facility

Wednesday, July 25th, 2012

A July 24, 2012 news item on Nanowerk features the the equipment and capabilities of …

The Calgary Microscopy and Imaging Facility (MIF) is a world-class university-wide facility housing transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), advanced light microscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), including single cell force spectroscopy (SCFS), and advanced image processing for three-dimensional electron and light microscopy, directed by Professor Matthias Amrein.

Single cell force spectroscopy at the MIF has now attracted high profile research with three NanoWizard® AFM systems from JPK [Instruments], one of which is equipped with the CellHesion® module. Describing the work of the Calgary group, Professor Amrein says “While we do some work for the energy sector (to predict behaviour of nanoparticles injected into oil reservoirs) our main focus is medicine. We delve into very fundamental problems such as “how does a malaria red blood cell attach itself to a blood vessel” or “how does binding of a ligand to a cell surface receptor or contact of a crystalline surface with the plasma membrane drive lipid sorting and how will this lead to signalling” but then immediately apply it to a practical problem such as “how does contact of uric acid crystals with dendritic cells cause gout in affected joints and how can we prevent this occurrence?” We want to understand disease processes at a very fundamental level so we know how to intervene in the best possible way. For example, a chronic inflammatory disease such as gout or arteriosclerosis may be triggered by a very specific interaction of a particle (uric acid crystals, cholesterol crystals, amyloid plaque, …. ) and specific cell (dendritic cell, macrophage, T-cell, …). Understanding this interaction will lead to targeted treatment “block the interaction” rather than the non-specific dampening of inflammation such as by corticosteroids with its many well-documented side effects and limited efficacy.”

It’s always nice to get some information about activities in microscopy, etc. in Canada although I’m not sure what occasioned the news item/release.

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Extreme optical imaging at Griffith University (Australia) reveals a single atom’s shadow

Thursday, July 5th, 2012

The July 3, 2012 news item on Nanowerk provides a rather intriguing opening line and image,

A pixelated image of a black spot on an orange background isn’t likely to win any photographic competitions.

But the seemingly bland image, taken by scientists at Queensland’s Griffith University, could potentially revolutionise mankind’s understanding of physics and how the world works.

Artist’s illustration of a single atom shadow. (Image: Kielpinski group, Griffith University)

On checking, I found the following image, which helped clarify for me the shadow’s location,  alongside Helen Wright’s July 3, 2012 news item for Griffith University.

In an international scientific breakthrough, a Griffith University research team has been able to photograph the shadow of a single atom for the first time. (from Griffith University)

Here’s more from Wright news item,

“We have reached the extreme limit of microscopy; you cannot see anything smaller than an atom using visible light,” Professor Dave Kielpinski of Griffith University’s Centre for Quantum Dynamics in Brisbane.

“We wanted to investigate how few atoms are required to cast a shadow and we proved it takes just one,” Professor Kielpinski said.

I was quite interested in the description of the process that Wright provides,

At the heart of this Griffith University achievement is a super high-resolution microscope, which makes the shadow dark enough to see. No other facility in the world has the capability for such extreme optical imaging.

Holding an atom still long enough to take its photo, while remarkable in itself, is not new technology; the atom is isolated within a chamber and held in free space by electrical forces.

Professor Kielpinski and his colleagues trapped single atomic ions of the element ytterbium and exposed them to a specific frequency of light. Under this light the atom’s shadow was cast onto a detector, and a digital camera was then able to capture the image.

“By using the ultra hi-res microscope we were able to concentrate the image down to a smaller area than has been achieved before, creating a darker image which is easier to see,” Professor Kielpinski said.

The precision involved in this process is almost beyond imagining.

“If we change the frequency of the light we shine on the atom by just one part in a billion, the image can no longer be seen,” Professor Kielpinski said.

This work opens up some new possibilities too,

Research team member, Dr Erik Streed, said the implications of these findings are far reaching.

“Such experiments help confirm our understanding of atomic physics and may be useful for quantum computing,” Dr Streed said.

There are also potential follow-on benefits for biomicroscopy.

“Because we are able to predict how dark a single atom should be, as in how much light it should absorb in forming a shadow, we can measure if the microscope is achieving the maximum contrast allowed by physics.”

“This is important if you want to look at very small and fragile biological samples such as DNA strands where exposure to too much UV light or x-rays will harm the material.

“We can now predict how much light is needed to observe processes within cells, under optimum microscopy conditions, without crossing the threshold and destroying them.”

And this may get biologists thinking about things in a different way.

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FEI/National Geographic image contest: Explore the Unseen

Wednesday, July 4th, 2012

It’s not unusual to see contests for the best ‘nanoimage’ but this one offers some special prizes including exposure (pun intended)  in a National Geographic project on nanotechnology. From the June 27, 2012 news item on Azonano,

FEI is excited to announce this year’s FEI Image Contest, “Explore the Unseen” and invites owners and users to submit their best nano-scale images online at fei.com. This year FEI are pleased to partner with National Geographic on a film tentatively titled “Invisible Worlds”.

Winning images will be posted on National Geographic’s website and all images will be considered for inclusion in the film’s promotional materials.

Inspired by the upcoming film, the FEI Image Contest offers owners and users an opportunity to explore their creativity and share their images with National Geographic’s worldwide audience.

I was a little curious about FEI and found it’s a microscopy company, from their About FEI page,

FEI  is the world leader in the production and distribution of electron microscopes, including scanning electron microscopes (SEM), transmission electron microscopes (TEM), DualBeam™­ instruments, and focused ion beam tools (FIB), for nanoscale research, serving a broad range of customers worldwide. Nanotechnology is the science of finding, characterizing, analyzing and fabri­cating materials smaller than 100 nano­meters (a nanometer is one billionth of a meter). FEI’s global customer base includes researchers, scientists, engineers, lab managers, and other skilled professionals.

Here’s more about the contest from the FEI’s 2012 contest page,

Contest Benefits

What’s in it for you?

All images submitted will be considered for inclusion in the National Geographic film promotional materials. This may include a companion game, book, education guide and poster.

Monthly Category Prizes

Everyone who enters will have the opportunity to win one of four monthly prizes. Prizes will be awarded in the following categories: The Human Body, Around the House, The Natural World, and Other Relevant Science. Monthly winners will receive a custom 24 x 24 inch bamboo mounted print of their image to put on display.

Plus, the four winning images will be posted to the Nat Geo Movies section of their website and Facebook page.

Grand Prize

At the conclusion of the contest, a grand prize will be awarded for the best image received from the monthly category winners. The grand prize is two coach class tickets to a United States destination of the winners choosing.

In addition, the winning image will be part of a special photo gallery promoting the film “Invisible Worlds”.

Here are more details about the individual categories,

Image Categories

This year, we’ve chosen image categories with broad audience appeal. The following examples, while not an exhaustive list, provide an idea of what we’re looking for:

The Natural World:

  • Insect parts – wings, eyes, etc. (ideal insects include moth, ladybug, fly, dragonfly, butterfly, cicada, cricket, etc.)
  • Spider silk / webs
  • Pollen, allergens, leaves, tree slime, fungus, bacteria & mold
  • Micro-invertebrates seen in water-quality testing
  • Plants, flowers, blades of grass
  • Rock, minerals, sand, etc.
  • Ice/snow/snowflakes, other crystals, raindrops
  • Close-up of animals or animal parts: dog, cat, bird, fish (pets a kid would own)

The Human Body:

  • Insects that live on your body (eyebrows, lashes, etc.) lice, bacteria
  • Body parts: bone (including fractures/breaks), human hair, skin flakes
  • Bodily fluids: snot, sweat, blood, saliva, tears, etc
  • Hands (finger, skin) before and after washing
  • Viruses
  • Endoplasmic reticulum, cell walls, etc
  • What a tattoo looks like under the skin

Around the House:

  • Things you would find in a kids room: t-shirt fibers, stuff on the soles of dirty shoes, dust mites, carpet fibers, hair inside of a baseball cap, sloughed skin, dust, pencil lead, crayons
  • Food: ice cream, candy, bread, french fries, apples, carrots, tomatoes, etc.
  • Creatures that live on the mouthpiece of a phone, in the kitchen sink
  • Tires, cars, bikes, toys
  • Lint from clothing
  • The inside workings of a clock, computer, smartphone or TV
  • Gems and jewels: rubies, diamonds, other gems
  • Sports equipment: baseball, basketball, soccer ball, bathing suit, etc.

Other Relevant Science:

Do your best images not fit into the categories above? Are you interested in sharing what you’re working on today? Whether you are investigating advanced materials, working to understand complex chemical reactions, or researching the 3D architecture of tissues and cells, this is the category for submitting your best work.

Here’s FEI’s 2011 winning image (from FEI”s 2011 Owner Image Contest Winner announcement page),

Microcanyon: a micro-crack in steel after bending tests Credit: Martina Dienstleder of the Institute for Electron Microscopy at the Graz University of Technology

The reasons it was selected as the ‘grand’ prize winner (from FEI”s 2011 Owner Image Contest Winner announcement page) were,

Overall, the entries were judged on their aesthetic appeal, application and scientific relevance, and overall creativity.

Given that there is mention of a micro-crack and the grand prize winner is titled Microcanyon, I’m assuming last year’s theme was less specific than this year’s invitation to submit ‘nanoscale’ inflected images.

Given there are monthly winners I assume there are monthly deadlines but I couldn’t find them on the FEI contest webpage however, the  final deadline for submissions is Sept. 14, 2012.

Good luck to the 2012 entrants.

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Canada’s Spectra Research gets exclusive distribution rights for super duper Asylum research microscopes

Thursday, June 7th, 2012

It’s all about microscopes, scanning probe and atomic force microscopes, that is. Asylum Research, a US company that recently (May 29, 2012)  announced the world’s first five year instrument warranty for atomic force microscopes, has appointed Canada’s Spectra Research Corporation as an exclusive distributor for Asylum’s microscopy products (and their other scientific instrumentation). From the June 6, 2012 news item on Nanowerk,

As part of its ongoing expansion, Asylum Research, the technology leader in scanning probe and atomic force microscopy (SPM/AFM), announced today that it has appointed Spectra Research Corporation (SRC) as its exclusive distributor in Canada. SRC has served nanotechnology and surface science markets in Canada since 1993. …

“We are very excited about adding Spectra Research to our family of world-wide distributors,” said John Green, Executive Vice President of Sales for Asylum Research. “Their extensive experience in AFM, materials and life science, and scientific instrumentation, will be a great asset to Asylum Research and our ability to help prospective customers make informed decisions.”

Paul Greenwood, President of SRC, added, “… This addition is a good fit with our focus on Canadian markets that include nanotech, surface science and materials characterization”.

SRC, located in Mississauga, Ontario, is one of the Allan Crawford Associates (ACA) group of companies. Neither SRC nor ACA offer much informaton about themselves or products on their websites. As for Asylum Research, you can find this on their About page,

Asylum Research is the technology leader in atomic force and scanning probe microscopy (AFM/SPM) for both materials and bioscience applications.  Founded in 1999, we are an employee owned company dedicated to innovative instrumentation for nanoscience and nanotechnology, with over 250 years combined AFM/SPM experience among our staff. Our instruments are used for a variety of nanoscience applications in material science, physics, polymers, chemistry, biomaterials, and bioscience, including single molecule mechanical experiments on DNA, protein unfolding and polymer elasticity, as well as force measurements for biomaterials, chemical sensing, polymers, colloidal forces, adhesion, and more.
Asylum’s MFP-3D set the standard for AFM technology, with unprecedented precision and flexibility. The MFP-3D is the first AFM with true independent piezo positioning in all three axes, combined with low noise closed-loop feedback sensor technology. The MFP-3D offers both top and bottom sample viewing and easy integration with most commercially-available inverted optical microscopes.

Asylum’s new Cypher AFM sets the new standard as the world’s fastest and highest resolution AFM.  Cypher provides low-drift closed loop atomic resolution for the most accurate images and measurements possible today, point defect atomic resolution, >20X faster AC imaging with small cantilevers, Spot-On™ automated laser and photodetector alignment for easy setup, integrated thermal, acoustic and vibration control, and broad support for all major AFM/SPM scanning modes and capabilities.

Asylum Research offers the lowest cost of ownership of any AFM company. Ask us about our industry-best 5-year warranty, our legendary product and applications support, and our exclusive 6-month money-back satisfaction guarantee. We are dedicated to providing the most technically advanced AFMs for researchers who want to take their experiments to the next level.

There’s a lot more information about their products and services on Asylum Research’s website.

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RUSNANO sells an investment based on IRR (internal rate of return)

Tuesday, May 29th, 2012

This is a turnaround. The news items usually state that RUSNANO (Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies) is about to invest money but this time they’re selling their investment. From the May 28, 2012 news item on Nanowerk,

RUSNANO’s Board of Directors has approved the company’s first exit from a previously-invested company. RUSNANO sells its 27.6 percent equity stake in Advanced Technologies Center, a leading producer of scanning probe microscopes and atomic scales. The sale to the project applicant, NPP CPT will generate IRR of 29.5 percent on RUSNANO’s investment.

RUSNANO’s co-financing enabled the high-tech company founded by Moscow State University professor Igor Yaminsky to reach next level of business and to expand its line of scanning probe microscopes [SPM] and SPM software. RUSNANO has invested 50 million rubles in the project, out of the 140 million rubles originally planned. In December 2011 the portfolio company opened a production site which will double its production capacity up to the revenue levels of 70 million rubles by the end of 2012.

The deal meets two essential RUSNANO’s criteria for successful exit: IRR is no lower than was planned, and the project is able to develop independently.

I had to look up ‘internal rate of investment’ (IRR) and found this essay on Wikipedia (Note: I have removed links and footnotes from the excerpt),

The internal rate of return (IRR) is a rate of return used in capital budgeting to measure and compare the profitability of investments. It is also called the discounted cash flow rate of return (DCFROR) or the rate of return (ROR). In the context of savings and loans the IRR is also called the effective interest rate. The term internal refers to the fact that its calculation does not incorporate environmental factors (e.g., the interest rate or inflation).

The news item goes on to describe the Russian company,  Advanced Technologies Center’s (not to be confused with New Zealand’s government agency, Advanced Technology Institute) product line (from the May 28, 2012 news item),

The main product of the Advanced Technologies Center is the FemtoScan series of scanning probe microscopes, high-precision instruments that use the mechanical motion of a probe (cantilever) to study the surface of a sample at the nanoscale. SPMs are used for research in chemistry, physics, biology and medicine, as well as for industrial applications such as surface quality control. The company also produces SPM control and image processing software, as well as precision scales capable to detect substances at atomic level.

There seems to be a lot of action in the world of microscopy these days. This is the second item I’ve written on the topic in the last 10 days (and it’s not my main area of interest).

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French scientists focus optical microscopes down to 30 nm

Thursday, May 24th, 2012

In fact, the French scientists are using two different imaging techniques to arrive at a resolution of 30 nm for their optical microscopes, according to the May 18, 2012 news item on Nanowerk.

Researchers from the Institut Pasteur and CNRS [Centre national de la recherche scientifique] have set up a new optical microscopy approach that combines two recent imaging techniques in order to visualize molecular assemblies without affecting their biological functions, at a resolution 10 times better than that of traditional microscopes. Using this approach, they were able to observe the AIDS virus and its capsids (containing the HIV genome) within cells at a scale of 30 nanometres, for the first time with light.

More specifically,

A study coordinated by Dr Christophe Zimmer (Institut Pasteur/CNRS), in collaboration with Dr Nathalie Arhel within the lab headed by Pr Pierre Charneau (Institut Pasteur/CNRS), shows that the association of two recent imaging techniques helps obtain unique images of molecular assemblies of HIV-1 capsids, with a resolution around 10 times better than that of traditional microscopes. This new approach, which uses super-resolution imaging and FlAsH labeling, does not affect the virus’ ability to self-replicate. It represents a major step forward in molecular biology studies, enabling the visualisation of microbial complexes at a scale of 30 nm without affecting their function.

The newly developed approach combines super-resolution PALM imaging and fluorescent FlAsH labeling. PALM imaging relies on the acquisition of thousands of low-resolution images, each of which showing only a few fluorescent molecules. The molecular positions are then calculated with high accuracy by computer programs and compiled into a single high-resolution image. FlAsH labeling involves the insertion of a 6-amino-acid peptide into the protein of interest. The binding of the FlAsH fluorophore to the peptide generates a fluorescent signal, thereby enabling the visualization of the protein. For the first time, researchers have combined these two methods in order to obtain high-resolution images of molecular structures in either fixed or living cells.

The researchers have supplied an image illustrating the difference between the conventional and new techniques will allow them to view (from the May 16, 2012 press release  [communiqué de presses] on the CNRS website),

© Institut Pasteur Reconstruction optique super-résolutive de la morphologie du VIH. L'image du dessous montre la distribution moyenne de l'enzyme intégrase observée par FlAsH-PALM. La résolution de cette technique (~30 nm) permet de retrouver la taille et la forme conique de la capside. Pour comparaison, la résolution de la microscopie conventionnelle (~200-300 nm), illustrée par l'image du dessus, ne permet pas une description détaillée de cette structure.

The conventional 200 – 300 nm resolution is shown at the top while the new 30 nm resolution achieved by combining the new techniques is shown below. This new technique has already allowed scientists to disprove a popular theory about the AIDS virus, from the May 18, 2012 news item on Nanowerk,

This new method has helped researchers visualise the AIDS Virus and localise its capsids in human cells, at a scale of 30 nm. Capsids are conical structures which contain the HIV genome. These structures must dismantle in order for the viral genome to integrate itself into the host cell’s genome. However, the timing of this disassembly has long been debated. According to a prevailing view, capsids disassemble right after infection of the host cell and, therefore, do not play an important role in the intracellular transport of the virus to the host cell’s nucleus. However, the results obtained by the researchers of the Institut Pasteur and CNRS indicate that numerous capsids remain unaltered until entry of the virus into the nucleus, confirming and strengthening earlier studies based on electron microscopy. Hence, capsids could play a more important role than commonly assumed in the replication cycle of HIV.

I gather excitement about this development is high as the scientists are suggesting that ‘microscopy’ could be known as ‘nanoscopy’ in the future.

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Pretty nanopicture from Ireland

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

'The Hive', taken by Dr David McGovern at Trinity's Nanoscience Institute, CRANN.

The Hive was named the Research Image of the Year for 2011 by the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI). From the Nov. 22, 2011 news item on Nanowerk,

The SFI Research Image competition offers SFI-funded researchers the opportunity to submit digital images created during the course of their research. The winning image was taken by Dr. David McGovern under supervision by Professor John Boland, CRANN’s [Center for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices] Director and Principal Investigator from TCD’s [Trinity College of Dublin] School of Chemistry.

The image is of a porous surface of the polymer polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA).  From the Nov. 18,  2011 news release on the Trinity College website,

Porous polymers have the potential to deliver new biocompatible nanodevices or nanotemplates for medical applications and are of significance not only in the biomedical industry but also for materials science.  CRANN’s research on porous polymers, during which the image was taken, has the potential to enable a wide variety of applications including therapeutic devices such as in implants, sutures, prosthetic devices and for drug delivery and wound care.

The image was produced using the Zeiss Auriga Focused Ion Beam (FIB) in CRANN’s Advanced Microscopy Laboratory (AML). The Auriga FIB is the only system in Europe and has the narrowest beam width of any such instrument on the market, enabling image resolution of less than 3 nanometres, approximately 30,000 times smaller than the width of one human hair.

Congratulations Dr. McGovern.

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