A cluster for the development of dynamic 3D nanoscopy

Microscopy has been an essential tool in advancing our understanding of biology for centuries. Observing the impact of diseases on the cellular level has led to better treatments and improves human health. The ultimate goal of a microscope is to watch our cells at work at the nanoscopic level of individual proteins, the key players in our cells. However, current technology does not allow this: we can either study them at high resolution in a static, fixed setting, or alive but at limited resolution and not for very long since we damage them in the imaging process.

Our team of physicists, engineers, computer scientists, chemists and cell biologists in Cambridge, Oxford and Yale will develop the necessary optical, labelling and data analysis technology to achieve live-cell optical nanoscopy that can image cells in 3D for hundreds of movie frames in living tissues. Our project builds on our consortium’s breakthroughs in live-cell and 3D nanoscopy.

The unprecedented imaging capabilities we aim for will open the door to major advances in physiology and medicine.