Exploding Brains

Microscopy is usually a search for the increasingly small. But a new approach uses some lateral thinking – why not just make the tiny things bigger?! Using expansion microscopy, slices of fruit fly brains are stuck to a polymer gel which then expands, pulling and stretching the brain tissue along with the tiny biology inside. Newly exploded, the structures are easier to pick out, especially using patterned light employed by lattice light sheet microscopy. In five superimposed images here, each colour shows supersized neurons inside a different fruit fly brain. The starry bursts of colour are actually boutons, neuron endings that connect to other brain cells (10 million times smaller than fireworks in the night sky). This novel way of zooming in on life is currently being used to stretch our understanding of proteins involved in neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Image from work by Ruixuan Gao, Shoh M. Asano and Srigokul Upadhyayula, and colleagues
• MIT Media Lab, MIT, Cambridge, MA, and Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
• Image reprinted with permission from the AAAS - the American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Published in Science, January 2019