Professor Bill Louch and colleagues at IEMR have received funding from UiO for a super-resolution microscope that will be part of the Advanced Light Microscopy core facility.
A core facility is an equipment-heavy specialized laboratory that serves researchers both within and outside their own environment. The medical faculty has about 20 core facilities. The microscope will be the first of its kind in Norway.
“I am very pleased to have received support for this new microscope. We are establishing this technology for the very first time in Norway. The microscope will allow us to expand the scientific investigations in my research group. It will also be available to other researchers through our core facility for advanced light microscopy,” says Louch.
He believes the funding will strengthen the research community in the field in Norway.
“It is very important to be at the forefront of new technology to be competitive in the international research frontier. And for our students and postdoctoral researchers, it is especially important that they can deliver top modern science that will enhance their careers,” points out the researcher.
“I see this new technology as a way to consolidate our expertise and scientific status, while also supporting the next generation of researchers,” he adds.
Can reveal detailed cell structure
The new microscope is based on a technology called MINFLUX, which makes it possible to show many more details in cells than was previously possible. Compared to the microscope Louch used for his doctorate in the 1990s, the new microscope can reveal detailed cell structure 100 times better.
“Microscopes allow us to make the invisible visible. In my group, we look at cells in the heart, but others look at cells in the brain or kidneys or any organ. It is very difficult to understand the small details in the structures that make cells work in healthy or what is wrong with disease,” explains Louch.
He says that advances in microscopy are essential to gain this knowledge and achieve this goal.
“Now we will use this fantastic technological development to gain exceptional insight into human disease and use the knowledge to develop new and better therapies.”
The Deputy Head at Klinmed, Shuo-Wang Qiao is also enthusiastic about the new microscope.
“It can have a resolution down to one to two nanometers and thus be able to visualize submolecular structures in living cells in real time,” she says.
The microscope is purchased with funds from the NFR’s INFRAstructure program in addition to support from UiO.
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Translated and abbreviated article from uio.no
