A tiny mirror could make a huge difference for scientists trying to understand what's happening in the micron-scale structures of living cells.
By growing cells on the mirrors and imaging them using super-resolution microscopy, a group of scientists from universities in Australia, China and the United States has addressed a problem that has long challenged scientists: seeing the structures of three dimensional cells with comparable resolution in each dimension.
"This simple technology is allowing us to see the details of cells that have never been seen before," said Professor Dayong Jin from the University of Technology Sydney.
"A single cell is about 10 micrometers; inside that is a nuclear core about 5 micrometers, and inside that are tiny holes, called the 'nuclear pore complex' that as a gate regulates the messenger bio-molecules, but measures between one fiftieth and one twentieth of a micrometer. With this super-resolution microscopy we are able to see the details of those tiny holes."
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