Under the microscope

The first commercial version of a new light microscope that allows cellular processes to be viewed at the smallest possible level of detail has been installed at the University of California Davis Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology.

The microscope - called OMX for Optical Microscopy eXperimental - will provide significant advantages to researchers seeking to understand and treat disease.

'OMX is a breakthrough technology in microscopy because it overcomes a long-standing barrier, the diffraction limit of light, to significantly increase the resolution of light microscopes,' said Dennis Matthews, the centre's director.

'The implications for medicine are profound, since the foundations of disease lie far deeper in cell structures than we can currently observe. With OMX, it is possible to see those cellular structures and how they 'talk' in real time.'

The diffraction limit has been an insurmountable barrier to medical researchers wanting to view cellular processes as they occur. Electron microscopes are high resolution but cannot be used to view living samples. Optical fluorescence microscopy allows imaging of live samples, but is relatively low resolution.