Ultrafast cameras used to capture molecular activity

Scientists in Munich and Boston have been working with new 3-D imaging systems that use "ultrafast" cameras to capture high resolution images of the molecular activity taking place in mice engineered to develop lung cancer. With additional work the scientists say the same approach can be used to study cancer in people.

The science involved required a sophisticated use of light.

"We resolved features that you couldn't see" with a conventional infrared-imaging setup, Mark Niedre, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Northeastern University, told MIT Technology Review. The sharper image unveiled molecular markers of inflammation and other lung problems.

The breakthrough will immediately give researchers an inside look at how cancer spreads inside an animal. Scientists want to determine the exact molecular process that takes place as cancer spreads from one tumor site to another.

- read the story from Bio-IT World

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