Photo: 'OMG' Microscope Lives Up to Its Name

[The Straight Story]

The scientists at the IU School of Medicine-Bloomington nicknamed their new microscope the “OMG” for good reason—the images it produces are showstoppers. The DeltaVision OMX imaging system (its official title) is a $1.2 million dollar microscope that can peek inside a cell and image fluorescent proteins in unprecedented detail.

Jane Stout, a researcher in the NIH-funded lab, used the OMG to create this spectacular image that won her first place in the high- and super-resolution microscopy category of the 2012 GE Healthcare Life Sciences Cell Imaging Competition.

What you’re looking at is a cell in the midst of dividing into two identical copies—a process called mitosis. Here, the chromosomes (in blue) are aligned at the cell’s equator. Microtubules (red) from opposite poles of the cell attach to the chromosomes using the kinetochores (green) and pull them to opposite ends of the cell, which then splits in half. But sometimes cells do not divide properly—a common problem in cancer. Understanding the mechanics of cell division could help us correct this process when it goes wrong.

Jane Stout’s prize: her mitosis image will light up a billboard in Times Square in New York City in April. That is a wonderful celebration of science!


http://www.govexec.com/excellence/promising-practices/2013/03/photo-omg-microscope-lives-its-name/62021/?oref=eig-homepage-module

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Wonderful picture!

And I'm really pleased to see that this microscope will provide us with great data as we search for cures and knowledge.

K&R

[malaise]

2. That's beautiful

I'm getting old- what's the difference between fission and mitosis?

[adieu]

8. If this question isn't a joke

fission is what an atom does, resulting in multiple product atoms of different atomic numbers, and some random freed up neutrons and possible beta particles (electrons), plus some energy.

Mitosis breaks a cell into two identical cells. Each cell contains millions of atoms. In order to split into two identical cells, there has to be enough material (atoms, strung together as molecules, in particular amino acids) to do so. Or, it has to be split into two baby cells and grow into mature cells.

[malaise]

15. It was serious

Thanks

[Manifestor_of_Light]

44. mitosis and meiosis???

Mitosis-the chromosomes are duplicated and then divide in two. So you have two copies of the original chromosomes, and two cells.

In reproductive cells, the chromosomes replicate and divide twice and then split off so you have one 46-chromosome cell end up as 4 23-chromosome cells.

In sperm you start with one somatic cell (46) and end with four sperm(23-chromosome each).

In eggs you end up with one 23-chromosome egg and three polar bodies.

Meiosis-the chromosomes divide and you end up with 1/2 as many chromosomes as you had in the original cell. Two sets of chromosomes is called diploid. One set is called haploid (23 in humans) as in reproductive cells.

Every somatic cell has the full set of 46 chromosomes needed to make a carbon copy of you.


(BA in biology here)

[malaise]

45. Thanks

[FourScore]

21. Ouch. Arrogant much? n/t

[malaise]

36. LOL

[MNBrewer]

41. Some single-celled organisms undergo a process called fission

see Schizosaccharomyces pombe

[Spitfire of ATJ]

13. Republicans fund fission.

[malaise]

37. DUzy

[jtuck004]

14. That's a pretty good question, since both are forms of asexual reproduction.

And it's sure not the first time it's been asked.

Their differences are discussed here, and here.

[malaise]

16. Thanks

[AlecBGreen]

38. binary fission is how bacteria divide

You have a good memory malaise

[malaise]

39. It's not bad but I've forgotten lots of details

[demwing]

47. mitosis and fission

Mitosis is the division of the nucleus into two daughter nuclei. Binary fission is the dividing of a cell into two cells.

There's a bit more, here:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_mitosis_the_same_as_binary_fission

[malaise]

48. Thanks

DUers are the best

[namaste2]

3. Fascinating, exciting, important! Wow! Thanks for posting. n/t

[FSogol]

4. K&R. n/t

[eggplant]

5. I heard they faked it on a soundstage.

You can see it's photoshopped from the shadows.

[OldDem2012]

7. Well...aren't you just a little ray of sunshine! nt.

[Brother Buzz]

10. DUzy, for sure

[Wounded Bear]

6. K & R...good stuff! nt

[dogknob]

9. We won't cure cancer until we cure Big Pharma...

There will never be a cure for cancer, AIDS, herpes or whatever until we "cure" that "disease."

[The Straight Story]

11. Cancer halted in five patients after treatment with own genetically modified cells

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/cancer-halted-in-five-patients-after-treatment-with-own-genetically-modified-cells-8544693.html

[mopinko]

31. hey, get with the party line, you.

if there is money, it is wrong. remember that.

[DhhD]

34. I hope the patenting of genes does not allow big Pharma to take control of this for big money.

[FourScore]

22. Bingo! n/t

[JDPriestly]

12. OMG!

[ismnotwasm]

17. Incredible

Love this

[StClone]

18. Think those are actually images

From the new Array Telescope in Chile of the Biotic Galaxy!

[caseymoz]

19. If it weren't real, it would be a work of abstract art. nt

[Aldo Leopold]

20. The Universe inside us.

[Brother Buzz]

23. Infinity goes in both directions

Everything has to be made up of something smaller and at the same time is part of something bigger.

[WheelWalker]

30. But infinity is just a theory, isn't it? In theory, there is no difference

between theory and practice. In practice, there is.

[alfredo]

42. It's turtles all the way down.

[daleo]

50. Things may not be that way at the Planck Scale

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_scale

[Brother Buzz]

57. Everything I learned about infinity I learned from My Second Book to Read

My theory of infinity was hatched by studying the front cover for hours. To hell with Planck Scale, my theory has served me well for fifty-five years.

[daleo]

59. That's cute.

[CrispyQ]

24. Without the headline, I would have thought it was another fab Hubble shot.

This is cool - the large & the small.

http://htwins.net/scale2/


Thanks for posting!

[DavidDvorkin]

25. "NIH-funded lab"

Sequestration is drying up such funding, and science budget cuts in general are endangering all such labs in the U.S.

[eggplant]

35. Apparently, with shrinking budgets we can only afford to look at tiny things now. n/t

[libodem]

26. Woo Hoo

And yee haw!!! Science is sofa king cool!!!

[Volaris]

27. That is pretty Badass...

the only time ive seen descriptor images of that process they were art prints in textbooks. That level of resolution at that microcellular/molecular level is just fantastic.

[wyldwolf]

28. Looks like 1960s-era Star Trek SFX. I can imagine the Enterprise next to it.

Just sayin'.

[Rain Mcloud]

29. This will advance science in all facets of research.

Kudos!

[lunatica]

32. This is the sort of story that could go in the new Good News sub-forum

OneGrassRoots is trying to get people who agree to post in her thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022555140

[drokhole]

33. Wow! Looks kind of like galactic nebulae...

[LuvNewcastle]

56. The first thing I thought when I saw the OP

was how much the pic looked like an image from outer space. I guess it's like they say, as above, so below.

[Duer 157099]

40. Bookmarking as My Favorite Thread of 2013

Can't imagine any that will top this in the next 9 months.

I might as well just sign off now.

[alfredo]

43. I think the Grumpy Kitty with a party hat might beat it out.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

46. "NIH Funded"

This is why gov't funding of scientific & medical research is so important. And this type of funding is one of the things cut in the GOP sequester/ stage 1 austerity program. They'll cut all of it if they could, since Teabillies see gov't-funded research as some kind of gov't "conspiracy".

Idiots.

[llmart]

58. Teabillies....

"We don't need no freakin' science. We've got Gawd and all things are controlled by HIM."

I think this is amazing.

[Egalitarian Thug]

49. One of those rare events that gives me hope. Thanks. n/t

[Hekate]

51. Fantastic, fascinating, and OMG!

Thanks TSS for posting this, and thanks to all you others who caught me up on a review of science facts!

[lexw]

52. Looking at that picture is a reminder of why it's called innerspace. Awesome!

[Union Scribe]

53. Beautiful.

It reminds me of this thread I had bookmarked: Single Molecule Image

[aquart]

54. Jaw on floor.

Not even a cell has privacy anymore.

[liberal_at_heart]

55. I'm going to have to show this to my daughter. She loves stuff like this. So do I.

That's incredible.

[SidDithers]

60. DU rec. Science and nature are wonderful to behold...nt

Sid