MIT Scientists develop 3D images of living cells

Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) scientists have recently managed to create a 3D image of a living cell! The method is similar to the xray CT scan technology used by the doctors today. This is a major breakthrough in medical history. The technique of creating live images have been published in the Nature methods. Using this particular method,the team created 3D images of the living cervical cells. To some, this has been like a dream come true. As Michael Feld, director of MIT’s spectroscopy lab mentioned recently: Accomplishing this has been my dream, and a goal of our laboratory, for several years. For the first time the functional activities of living cells can be studied in their native state. Initially, the researchers used a method called interferometry, to develop the 2D images of the living cells. To create a 3D perspective of the living cell, all they had to do was put together various shots of the cell from different angles. During the first dry run of the process, it took them 10 seconds. But, eventually the time went down to 0.1 seconds. I think this probably beats the CT scan time. Although, I think the time factor depends on the efficiency of the people using the technique. The image of cell nucleus is revealed. Also revealed along with it are the nucleolus, as well as numerous smaller organelles in the cytoplasm. As of now, the image resolution is only 500 nanometers. The scientists are working on improving the image resolution. This research was funded by National Institutes of Health and Hamamatsu Corporation. Image Credits: Physorg