Imaging instruction
Though it was quickly adopted by the scientific community, Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and of Physics Xiaowei Zhuang worried that researchers using the system of technology of super-resolution, stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) she developed were not producing high-quality images because they were not using the technology properly. To correct the situation, Zhuang, working with postdoctoral associate Joshua Vaughan and graduate students Graham Dempsey, Kok Hao Chen, and Mark Bates, has developed a “primer” that identifies the best photo-switchable dyes or fluorescent proteins — called “probes” — to use in STORM imaging. Described recently in a paper published on Nature Methods’ website, the work also identified the key characteristics that are useful for STORM imaging, giving researchers a framework for evaluating other probes, or even designing custom-made molecules to use in imaging. “This paper is service to the community,” Zhuang said. “We are trying to educate people about two things —...