A New DNA Imaging Tool Lets Scientists Look Inside Cells In A Way That’s More Like Google Maps Than Traditional Microscopes
The technique also reveals a wealth of genetic information not accessible with traditional microscopy tools. Because the technology uses tagged molecules within the cells to see how things are naturally arranged in samples, scientists can “see the world through the eyes of the cell,” said Joshua Weinstein, the lead author of the new paper.
The New York Times:
DNA Microscope Sees ‘Through The Eyes Of The Cell’
Peering inside cells has been an integral part of biology ever since the 17th century, when cells were discovered under a microscope. But even with advances in light and electron microscopy, researchers who want to understand where various molecules are inside a cell — and thus how cells like neurons, immune cells and tumors differ from one another — can glean only so much. Now, scientists have come up with a new way to capture what’s going on in there. (Sheikh, 6/20)
Stat:
A New ‘DNA Microscope’ Peers Deep Inside Living Cells
Joshua Weinstein of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard spent the last six years almost singlehandedly working to fulfill that wish, and on Thursday he unveiled the result: a “DNA microscope” that shows not only the locations of DNA (and its cousin, RNA) in a cell but also the precise nucleotide-by-nucleotide identity of each molecule. (Begley, 6/20)
