To See Hue

We see colours as a mixture of red, blue and green, but other creatures like the mantis shrimp have hyperspectral vision – able to distinguish many more hues from a continuous rainbow or spectrum. This sensitivity has inspired the world of microscopy – with hyperspectral imaging now able to distinguish subtly-different wavelengths of light in cells and tissues labelled with fluorescent proteins. Here, new software, called SEER, spots such spectral 'fingerprints' from cells in this zebrafish, so they can be analysed further, or highlighted in different colours in this movie – so our relatively primitive eyes can see the distinction. Hyperspectral imaging, coupled with clever analysis techniques, may go on to detect previously hidden details in human tissues – such as subtle changes in early tumours growing among healthy cells.

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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• Video from work by Wen Shi and Daniel E. S. Koo, and colleagues
• Translational Imaging Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
• Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in Nature Communications, February 2020