News & events

We are back!
The confocal has been checked and re-calibrated and is once again fully operational following the massive 6.4 earthquake on February 22nd. As soon as we were allowed back inton the building in early April we turned the system on, and astonishingly everything worked. The lasers as well as other components did require extensive re-calibration, but surviving two major earthquakes fairly unscathed testifies to the robustness of the system.

This image was taken during a grade 5 aftershock. After so many aftershocks, we now rate them as "entertaining" and wouldn't dream of interrupting work!

Seminar by Leica microscopy application specialist:
"Developments in confocal and super resolution technologies"
Eric Chung, Leica Microsystems
Super resolution light microscopy is revolutionizing life science research at a fast rate, providing visibility to structures never before seen on light microscopes. The Leica STED super resolution confocal has now been joined by the Leica super resolution GSR wide field fluorescence microscope. At the same time, sensitivity has been addressed with the launch of the new HyD detectors. This hybrid system combines the best of PMT and GaAsP photocathodes technologies. Superior sensitivity combined with a large dynamic range is therefore achieved.

Wednesday 22nd June, 12 noon to 1 pm in room 275, Research Building, School of Biological Sciences, UC

New camera
In October, we took delivery of a new BIC-funded Leica DFC310X colour camera. This small camera is specifically designed for low light and fluorescence microscopy, and can be attached to either our stereo fluorescence microscope or to the confocal microscope. Our Leica camera is driven by proprietary software on a new computer system, which will also be available for image processing and analysis.