Eye for Detail

Antibodies are intricate 3D proteins that attach to specific ‘complementary’ structures. Our immune system produces antibodies to grab on to pathogens, but they’re also powerful tools in research too. Here, fluorescent antibodies attach to specific proteins in a human retina. A technique called iterative bleaching extends multiplexity (IBEX) assembles the picture iteratively, layer by layer. During each round, fluorescent antibodies attach to specific parts of the retina, such as astrocytes (middle blue band), cone cells (pink) or the outer limiting membrane (red layer)). The antibodies are then bleached – chemically destroyed so that, in the next round, different antibodies can highlight different details without the risk of mislabelling. Here researchers add another trick – detaching certain antibodies, rather than photobleaching, gives more flexibility when imaging tissues. The result is a highly-detailed 'map' of proteins in the retina, and bright future of IBEX in revealing the fine details of complex living tissues.

Image made using Leica Microsystems microscopy

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 Yuxuan Meng & Jakub Kubiak and colleagues
• UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, UK
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in Journal of Clinical Investigation inSIGHT, April 2026