Researchers develop advanced super-resolution imaging for DNA and living cells

Researchers have achieved significant breakthroughs in microscopic imaging, enhancing the ability to observe DNA and living cells with unprecedented clarity and duration.

A team led by researchers from Zhejiang University and the Harbin Institute of Technology has developed the RIED (reaction-enabled super-resolution imaging via entropy-weighted correlation combined with deconvolution) technique. This method allows for 41 hours of continuous super-resolution imaging of living cells without causing damage. Unlike traditional microscopy that uses external light sources or lasers that can harm samples, RIED utilizes the faint light emitted during internal cellular chemical reactions to capture high-resolution images.

In a separate development, researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation have created fluorescent molecules that enable imaging of DNA packaging within living and preserved cells at resolutions approaching the width of the double helix. Testing on cancer patient biopsies revealed that DNA in tumors is noticeably looser and more spread out than in healthy tissue. This advancement suggests that the three-dimensional folding of DNA could eventually serve as a diagnostic tool to measure tumor progression and aggressiveness.