Skip to main content

 

 

Art of Science image titled To The Quick
To The Quick

Scientist Collaborators Neha Goswami, Romana A Nowak, Mark A. Anastasio, Gabriel Popescu, and Nichola Winston

QLI Lab, Computational Imaging Science Lab

Laser-scanning gradient light interference microscopy and a deep learning from label-free LS-GLIM

Funded by NIH

 

Throughout our lives we are told to not judge a book by its cover; internal beauty is more important than external appearances. And yet, that doesn’t stop us from wishing we could peek into things – whether it is a fruit to decide if it is ripe enough, or the minds of people to understand what they really think, or even our own bodies to figure out if the pain is a passing moment or if it is a serious symptom of an underlying disease.

Although such hypotheticals are not yet possible on a macro scale, it is possible to catch a quick glimpse on a micro scale. An example includes microscopy techniques that can decipher cellular structures, like a nucleus, without breaking open a cell. Using such methods, researchers can visualize embryo development without harming the life inside. The artist juxtaposed images of mice embryos with fruit because of the striking commonality: both have life hidden inside, waiting to burst forth.