Monthly Archives: October 2009

New Fluorescence Microscopy Techniques Directly Image Drug Delivery

By jyaron | Published: October 31, 2009
X Sunney Wei and others at Harvard University recently demonstrated a new technique for stimulated emission microscopy that allows high resolution imaging of generally non-fluorescent chromophores (such as drugs). This imaging technique relies on pumped laser sources and new techniques for obtaining the fluorescent emission streams. Use of this sort of microscopy could lead to [...]
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BioImage of the Week #2

By jyaron | Published: October 19, 2009
The BioImage for this week comes to us from GPMatthews’ personal website. The site contains a large collection of fascinating images and articles, particularly on the pages that contain images of diatoms. These unicellular organisms are like biology’s snowflakes and often offer some of the most interesting and complex patterns that can be visualized under [...]
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Great Video Depicting Transcription and Translation

By jyaron | Published: October 19, 2009
This video, part of a PBS production titled DNA: The Secret of Life, depicts the process of transcription and translation, or in other terms, making mRNA from DNA and proteins from mRNA. The video shows the biologically correct molecules, which sets it apart from most other videos depicting the same process and gives it a [...]
Posted in Cell Biology, Genetics | Tagged , | 1 Comment

BioImage of the Week #1

By jyaron | Published: October 12, 2009
The image above is featured from Cornell University’s Life Sciences Core Laboratories Center. It is a gorgeous image of a bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells taken with laser scanning confocal microscopy techniques. The cell is stained with a three dye system showing: Tubulin: BODIPY FL-labelled tubulin antibody Actin: Texas Red-X phalloidin Nucleus/Chromosomes: Texas Red-X phalloidin [...]
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Neurons May Be Up To 50% More Efficient Than Previously Thought

By jyaron | Published: October 5, 2009
A recent publication in Nature has suggested that rather than being only 30% efficient, neurons, the workhorse cells of our brains, may be acting at up to 70-80% efficiency. This has heavy implications, considering that neurons consume approximately 20% of our body’s consumed energy. The question must now be asked: what exactly are those little [...]
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