Inner Space

Although reminiscent of some kind of stellar or solar eruption, you’re actually looking inside a zebrafish’s inner ear. Scientists are able to make videos like these thanks to a new microscope imaging technique that combines two existing tools, one of which is similar to technology used by astronomers. Instead of pointing it out to the stars, scientists use it to capture the cells deep within living tissue. They then turn a series of 2D images into 3D videos. This particular clip captures a zebrafish’s immune cell as it ‘migrates’ through the inner ear, picking up sugar particles (blue) as it moves along. Rather than confining our studies of living cells to the harsh environment of a microscope slide, this technology allows scientists to witness and therefore better understand how cells behave in their natural environment, even deep inside living tissue.

Written by Gaëlle Coullon

Gaëlle Coullon

Writer

Gaëlle is a consultant and trainer in research communication and commercialisation. As an ex-neuroscientist, she is always looking for new ways to combine her love of writing with everything brain related.

• Video/still from work by Tsung-Li Liu and Srigokul Upadhyayula, and colleagues
• Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
• Image/video reproduced with permission from the AAAS - the American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Published in Science, April 2018