Microscope allows observation of embryo development in real time

The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (Embl) in conjunction with its site in Monterotondo (Rome), Italy, has produced a microscope to observe embryo development in real time and non-invasively. The achievement, published in the journal Nature Methods and led by Italian Carlo Bevilacqua, who works at Embl's headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany, will shed light on the dynamics of processes occurring in embryo development, revealing important new biological mechanisms.

The researchers started from the microscopy technique based on the phenomenon theorized by physicist Le' on Brillouin in 1922, in which light projected onto a material interacts with thermal vibrations occurring within it, exchanging energy in the process. This in turn affects the way the light is reflected and makes it possible to ascertain certain physical characteristics.

However, this technique is very slow because it gathers information from a single point on the sample at any one time, and it can damage light-sensitive tissue. The new microscope collects information from many different points simultaneously, increasing the speed of analysis at least a hundredfold, and it gives a much higher resolution thanks to the use of infrared light, also reducing the risk of cell damage.