By flipping the mirrors and
lenses typically used in telescopes, a team of researchers has created a
cutting-edge microscope that can capture images of samples suspended in any
type of liquid, even the transparent organs of living organisms. This breakthrough
design allows for high magnification while retaining sufficient light, enabling
scientists to study intricate structures such as axons in the brain and
individual proteins or RNA molecules within cells.
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| Using a mirror-based design, this microscope captures sharp and vivid images, as demonstrated by its ability to visualize mouse neurons with clarity. |
The conventional approach of
using lenses in microscopes often requires covering the sample with a layer of
oil or water to minimize light scattering at high magnifications, which can be
cumbersome and limiting. However, the new microscope, invented by molecular
biologist Fabian Voigt at Harvard University, takes inspiration from the unique
eyes of scallops, which have hundreds of tiny blue dots with curved mirrors
that reflect light back to create an image. Voigt realized that by shrinking
the mirror, using lasers for illumination, and filling the space between the
mirror and the detector with liquid to reduce light scattering, the concept
could be adapted for microscopy.
The prototype of the new
microscope features a curved plate that corrects for the mirror's curvature,
and light enters from the top, bouncing off the mirror to magnify the sample.
This design allows for imaging of samples suspended in any type of liquid,
simplifying the sample preparation process. In tests, the microscope produced
clear images of transparent samples, including tadpole tail muscles, mouse
brains, and entire chicken embryos, with comparable quality to conventional
optical microscopes. The simplicity and flexibility of the design make it
particularly promising for studying organs and organisms made transparent by
pigment removal, such as mice or embryos.
Researchers are excited
about the potential of this innovative microscope design in various fields of
study. For example, it could aid in mapping the complex pathways of axons in
the brain, which are thin and elongated structures, and reveal gene expression
in neurons through RNA molecule imaging. The new microscope, with its
streamlined and versatile design, could overcome some of the limitations of
traditional microscopes and open up new possibilities for scientific research.
As Adam Glaser, an engineer at the Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics, notes,
"Borrowing from astronomy is a wonderfully efficient and creative way to
do science."
Source:
science.org
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