On the Surface

Much biomedical research seeks to investigate what’s beneath the skin, revealing the hidden mechanics of our organs and cells. But these inner workings impact the surface too, and getting the whole picture requires monitoring every aspect. For example, to learn fundamental facts of animal development, researchers often track the early interior growth of a fruit fly – a common scientific test subject – in minute detail, but stop when the fly takes shape and monitoring becomes more challenging. A new technique for 3D imaging of objects provides the opportunity to continue the study further, allowing the subtle surface dynamics of a developing subject to be precisely tracked over time, and the large-scale consequences of microscopic events observed. The technique records colour and doesn’t require the subjects to be transparent or x-rayed – a limitation of previous approaches – and in initial tests and showcases has revealed details of flies, tadpoles, and even LEGO.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

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• Video from work by Axelle Kerstens and colleagues
• VIB Bio Imaging Core, Leuven, Belgium
• Video originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Published in BMC Biology, January 2019