Studying the human brain is difficult because of its vast and intricate network of neural connections. The fruit fly offers a simpler but similar model that researchers can more easily map.
Handshakes between glycans are one way cells recognize each other.
Kelvin Anggara
From body snatching to Photoshop and virtual reality, the techniques of medical illustration have evolved. But its essential role in showing clinicians how to care for the body continues today.
This microscopy image shows the retina of a mouse, laid flat and made fluorescent.
Kenyoung Kim, Wonkyu Ju and Mark Ellisman/National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research, University of California, San Diego via Flickr
Visualization is an essential part of the scientific process. Advances in imaging have enabled eye-opening discoveries, not only for scientists and researchers but also for the general public.
This image of actin filaments in a cell was taken using a type of superresolution microscopy.
Xiaowei Zhuang, HHMI, Harvard University, and Nature Publishing Group/NIH via Flickr
Superresolution microscopy allowed researchers to view cells at the molecular level. Improvements on the technique can help study the building blocks of complex cell processes over time.
Many microscopy techniques have won Nobel Prizes over the years. Advancements like cryo-ET that allow scientists to see the individual atoms of cells can reveal their biological functions.
Roughly 2 million people use the London Underground each day.
Tom Eversley/Shutterstock
New research reveals that the London Underground is polluted with small particles which may carry negative health effects for humans.
Imaging the proteins on the surface of HCV has been challenging because of the virus’s shape-shifting nature.
Juan Gaertner/Science Photo Library via Getty Images
Using a Nobel Prize-winning technique called cryo-EM, researchers were able to identify potential areas on the hepatitis C virus that a vaccine could target.
Studying bee sperm is difficult because of the way it coils, but fluorescent light illuminates the head of the sperm. Sperm quality may indicate stress levels in the bee colony.
A nanographene molecule imaged by noncontact atomic force microscopy.
Patrik Tschudin/gross3HR/Wikimedia Commons
A physicist explains how atoms arrange themselves into molecules – and how scientists are able to image these tiny bits of matter that make up everything around you.
So far, similar medical diagnostics tech has either required time-consuming post processing, or has used parts that prevented it from being integrated into a flat design.
Eliminating human guesswork can make for faster and more accurate research.
KTSDESIGN/Science Photo Library via Getty Images
Understanding when and how neurons die is an important part of research on neurodegenerative diseases like Lou Gehrig’s, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
Physically removing bad or unwanted memories by altering synapses in the brain may one day be possible.
apagafonova/iStock via Getty Images Plus
Don Arnold, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Understanding where and how memories are formed could lead to more ways to treat conditions like PTSD and addiction.
Research groups supported by the U.S. BRAIN Initiative recently released the most comprehensive map of cell types in the motor cortex of humans, monkeys and mice.
Andriy Onufriyenko/Moment via Getty Images
Scientists have been mapping the brain for centuries. New visualization tools bring them one step closer to understanding where thoughts come from and new ways to treat neurological disorders.
The NanoMslide causes potentially cancerous cells to ‘light up’ with vivid colour contrast. It has already been successful in finding early-stage breast cancer cells in human tissue.
A simple two-dimensional grid can convey a lot of information – whether making pictures with Lite-Brite or storing data in DNA.
Justin Day/Flickr
DNA has been storing vast amounts of biological information for billions of years. Researchers are working to harness DNA for archiving data. A new method uses light to simplify the process.