The Biosciences Imaging.

Confocal laser scanning microscopy allows us to investigate the structure and function of biological tissues at sub-micron resolution in 3D. These systems use the fluorescence elicited by laser irradiation of specific flurophores that can be added to the specimen. These can be fluorescently tagged antibodies to label specific molecules, or they can be fluorescent reporter molecules that generate signal in response to functional changes, eg. Ca2+. pH or membrane voltage. The confocality allows individual optical planes to be imaged. A sequence of these through the z-axis give information about the whole cell. With these systems we can image the sub-cellular localistion of cell signalling. These systems allow us to observe at the level of individual synapses within functional brain tissue.

The flexibility of use of confocal imaging has led to a large number of interdisciplinary research applications including neuroscience, development, cell signalling, plant physiology. The research interests of the different groups are listed on their own pages.

Here are some example images:

• Neuronal Morphology; images of neurones captures using the confical microscope.
• Other biological images captured using the confocal microscope.
• Confocal imaging in Art Conservation.

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