Expansion microscopy turns the attention to the specimen. It achieves high-resolution images via a chemical rather than optical approach. Preserved specimens are physically enlarged within a swellable hydrogel to allow 3D nano-imaging using conventional microscopes. Tuning the sample may sound tempting, but it comes with some relevant drawbacks. Details >
Knowledge Base
Have you ever wondered how superresolution microscopy works? What’s the difference between STED, STORM, and MINFLUX? What is “resolution” and what is a “PSF”? What is so special about the STEDYCON? Read on to find out.
If you have any suggestions, questions or ideas for our knowledge base, we would be very happy to hear from you.
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Structured illumination microscopy offers some advantages over confocal, most notably increased resolution. Comparing it to STED, however, reveals its limitations. Details >
Confocal microscopy offers superior optical sectioning. But what is that exactly? And what about other ways to get rid of the background, such as array-based detectors like the MATRIX? Details >
Today’s research microscopes are increasingly powerful, modular, and combinatorial. There’s a lot of options out there. While the price is unquestionably a deal-breaker for purchase, a more helpful criterion is value. Details >
Deep and clear: where confocal beats out wide-field microscopy
Confocal microscopes were designed to get rid of background signal. How do they work? And when do you know it’s time to use one? The answer is in the pinhole. Details >
Today’s high-end fluorescence microscopy is unthinkable without lasers. Reason enough to take a closer look at these sophisticated light sources. Details >
Superresolution for biology: when size, time, and context matter
The spatial resolution achievable with today’s light microscopes has unveiled life at the scale of individual molecules. Size is no longer a barrier to seeing biology at the most fundamental level. But life is not static. It emerges from movement and change. How do superresolution technologies hold up to the challenges of documenting dynamic biological mechanisms? Details >