Cells contain thousands of messenger RNA molecules, which carry copies of DNA’s genetic instructions to the rest of the cell. MIT engineers have now developed a way to visualize these molecules in higher resolution than previously possible in intact tissues, allowing researchers to precisely map the location of RNA throughout cells.
Key to the new technique is expanding the tissue before imaging it. By making the sample physically larger, it can be imaged with very high resolution using ordinary microscopes commonly found in research labs.
“Now we can image RNA with great spatial precision, thanks to the expansion process, and we also can do it more easily in large intact tissues,” says Ed Boyden, an associate professor of biological engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at MIT, a member of MIT’s Media Lab and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and the senior author of a paper describing the technique in the July 4, 2016 issue of Nature Methods (“Nanoscale imaging of RNA with expansion microscopy”).
Image credit: Yosuke Bando, Fei Chen, Dawen Cai, Ed Boyden, and Young Gyu
Recent News
Covalent Organic Framework Nanofluidic Hybrid Membrane for Osmotic Energy Generation
A paper recently published in the journal ACS Applied Energy Materials demonstrated the feasibility of using a covalent organic framework (COF)-based nanofluidic hybrid membranes (NHMs) to attain enhanced interfacial ion transport for the generation of osmotic [...]
Degradable Nanocomposite Removes Antibiotics from Contaminated Water
The excess fluoroquinolones (FQs) discharged into the aquatic environment due to human activities must be removed cost-effectively. In an article published in the Journal of Cleaner Production, the authors fabricated an environment-friendly dealkaline lignin-grafted Fe3O4 nanoparticles [...]
Light-controlled reactions at the nanoscale
Controlling strong electromagnetic fields on nanoparticles is the key to triggering targeted molecular reactions on their surfaces. Such control over strong fields is achieved via laser light. Although laser-induced formation and breaking of molecular [...]
Bright Future for Nanophotonic Chips with Topological Rainbow Device
A paper recently published in the journal Nature Communications demonstrated an effective method to realize on-chip nanophotonic topological rainbow devices using the concept of synthetic dimensions. Importance of Synthetic Dimensions for the Construction of Topological Nanophotonics [...]
Green Approach to Silver Nanoparticle Fabrication with Citrus Fruits
In a study available in the journal Materials Today: Proceedings, silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were fabricated using a green method using Citrus X sinensis. Methylthioninium Chloride (MB) Dyes Threatening the Environment Dye and sewage drainage into [...]
Coronavirus ‘ghosts’ found lingering in the gut
Scientists are studying whether long COVID could be linked to viral fragments found in the body months after initial infection. In the chaos of the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, oncologist and geneticist [...]
Experts perplexed over number of people getting long COVID
Public health experts are divided over how many people are getting long COVID-19, a potentially debilitating condition that comes after a patient has recovered from the coronavirus. Ill effects from the condition can include [...]
Four strange COVID symptoms you might not have heard about
Well over two years into the pandemic, hundreds of thousands of COVID cases continue to be recorded around the world every day. With the rise of new variants, the symptoms of COVID have also evolved. Initially, [...]
A new method for exploring the nano-world
Nanoparticles are everywhere. They are in our body as protein aggregates, lipid vesicles, or viruses. They are in our drinking water in the form of impurities. They are in the air we breath as [...]
Breast Cancer Drug Resistance Tackled By Polymer Nanoparticles
Drug resistance is a common phenomenon, with drugs becoming less and less effective as their usage increases. To address this issue, a novel technique employing conjugated polymer-based nanoparticles is presented in the study published [...]
New imaging method makes microrobots visible in the body
Microrobots have the potential to revolutionize medicine. Researchers at the Max Planck ETH Centre for Learning Systems have now developed an imaging technique that for the first time recognises cell-sized microrobots individually and at [...]
Multifunctional Nanocrystals Enhance Cancer Cell Killing Therapies
Scientists have recently developed multifunctional hexagonal NaxWO3 nanocrystals that can serve as microwave sensitizers to kill cancer cells as well as improve the overall chemodynamic therapy (CDT). This study is available as a pre-proof in Chemical Engineering Journal. [...]
Biotech, nanomedicine, and AI combine for health breakthrough predicted by Apple genius Steve Jobs
Apple’s visionary founder, the late Steve Jobs once said, “the biggest innovations of the 21st century will be at the intersection of biology and technology”. And that prediction is coming true in the drug [...]
Making chemical separation more eco-friendly with nanotechnology
Chemical separation processes are essential in the manufacturing of many products from gasoline to whiskey. Such processes are energetically costly, accounting for approximately 10–15 percent of global energy consumption. In particular, the use of [...]
Dual Function SARS-CoV-2 Sensor for Point of Contact Testing
Scientists have recently developed electrochemical immunosensors based on graphene oxide−gold (GO−Au) nanocomposites. These immunosensors are highly sensitive with dual function, i.e., they can detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antigen and antibody. [...]
Are COVID surges becoming more predictable? New Omicron variants offer a hint
Omicron relatives called BA.4 and BA.5 are behind a fresh wave of COVID-19 in South Africa, and could be signs of a more predictable future for SARS-CoV-2. Here we go again. Nearly six months [...]
Convenient SARS-CoV-2 Immunoassay Shows Benefit of Nanobody Design
Early detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) is critical to stopping the spread of this contagious disease. The current diagnostic methods for COVID-19 are expensive and difficult to handle. Hence, there is a need [...]
Patents for COVID-19 vaccines slow global supply, raise risk of new variants, advocates say
WHO data suggests richer countries have so far received 87 per cent of doses globally. Waiving patents on COVID-19 vaccines would remove "a legal hurdle" to companies and developing countries producing the shots and [...]
14.9 million excess deaths associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021
New estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that the full death toll associated directly or indirectly with the COVID-19 pandemic (described as “excess mortality”) between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2021 [...]
Cognitive Impairment From Severe COVID-19 Equivalent to 20 Years of Aging
Cognitive impairment as a result of severe COVID-19 is similar to that sustained between 50 and 70 years of age and is the equivalent to losing 10 IQ points, say a team of scientists [...]
RHINOstic™ Automated Nasal Swab Earns Health Canada COVID-19 Interim Order
Rhinostics, Inc., an innovator in sample collection technologies, today announced that it has received Health Canada approval for sale of its RHINOstic™ Automated Nasal Swab for medically supervised collection or self-collection for ages 18 [...]
Pfizer says COVID treatment Paxlovid fails to prevent infection of household members
Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) on Friday said a large trial found that its COVID-19 oral antiviral treatment Paxlovid was not effective at preventing coronavirus infection in people living with someone infected with the virus. The [...]
Nanotechnology enables visualization of RNA structures at near-atomic resolution
We live in a world made and run by RNA, the equally important sibling of the genetic molecule DNA. In fact, evolutionary biologists hypothesize that RNA existed and self-replicated even before the appearance of [...]
Unvaccinated people increase risk of SARS-CoV-2 for vaccinated people even when vaccination rates high
Unvaccinated people threaten the safety of the vaccinated even when SARS-CoV-2 vaccination rates are high, according to a new modeling study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). "Many opponents of vaccine mandates have framed vaccine adoption [...]
Protein-Based Photonic Nanostructures Inspired by Cephalopods
In a paper recently printed in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, to imitate the photonic reaction of squid skin, researchers sequenced, recombinantly produced, and self-assembled reflective proteins from Sepioteuthis. lessioniana into spherical nanoparticles by combining [...]
E. Coli Nanomaterial Aids Cancer Photothermal and Immunotherapy
A recent article published in the journal ACS Nano discusses the application of Escherichia coli (E. coli)-mimetic nanomaterials for photolytic treatment of CT-26 or 4T1 tumors. The authors synthesized the target nanomaterials using E. coli membrane proteins, gold nanorods (AuNRs), [...]
An easily reversed hydrogel male contraceptive
A team of researchers working at China's Fourth Hospital of Harbin Medical University has developed a new kind of male contraceptive that is easily reversed. In their paper published in the journal ACS Nano, the group [...]
Leave A Comment