© 2012 Cardiff Scientific Society

Abstract

 

Since its invention in the 17th century the optical microscope is an indispensable tool in cell biology and is still the only practical means of visualizing living cells and their content. However, most cellular constituents have no colour and they are hard to distinguish under a light microscope unless they are stained. Modern fluorescence microscopy relies on organic dyes attached to biomolecules or fluorescent proteins fused with other proteins. However, is the behaviour of these modified biomolecules real or artefactual? Furthermore, all organic fluorophores are prone to bleaching, an irreversible degradation of the fluorescence intensity after excitation with light. This presentation will explore the exciting new field of label-free vibrational optical microscopy, where biomolecules in living cells are visualized owing to the intrinsic vibrations of their chemical bonds.

Good Vibrations: Shedding New Light on Cells with  Label-free Optical Microscopy     

 

Dr Paola Borri MSc PhD

School of Biosciences, Cardiff University