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Inner Vision
17 April 2012

Inner Vision

Finding out what goes on within individual cells is no easy task. It can involve freezing an organ and cutting it into super-thin slices for scanning by electron microscopy. These scans are then combined to produce a 3D reconstruction. However, this slicing technique cannot easily be used for thick, complex cells. It tends to result in distorted images because slices get squashed during the cutting process. Scientists have developed a solution, which instead of electrons, uses a focused beam of gallium ions. Firing the ions at a shallow angle into the tissue and using a computer program to reconstruct the data, researchers can produce highly detailed images like the one above of a slime mold cell. At the top is the nuclear membrane with pores (coloured blue) that separates the nucleus from the cytoplasm and its various organelles.

Written by Andrew Purcell

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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