We’ve all taken a look at our surroundings. Many of us have even peeked into a microscope every now and then. Doug Cromey, MS, Manager of the Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center (SWEHSC) Cellular Imaging Core recently privileged a group of UBRP students to tour some of the cellular imaging facilities that the UA has to offer.

Before trekking into the world of micro and nanometers, Doug began our tour with a short discussion on the history of microscopes and the science of microscopy. It was particularly interesting to hear about the debate of using digital imaging programs to enhance pictures of results.

After emerging from the College of Pharmacy (and passing by some historical gum placed underneath a counter along the way) we headed into the Arizona Health Sciences Center prepared to see some massive microscopes.

Our first stop was the histology lab, where various “parts” arrive from labs throughout the University. Stains are then applied to the tissue to allow for the viewing of assorted artifacts within the sample. Pathologists can observe these samples and diagnose all sorts of oddities.

Next we headed off to the enormous Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). Imagine a cylinder 7-8 feet in height and a good 14 inches in diameter and you’ve got a good idea about the size of this thing. This scope represents one of the few “high res” microscopes on campus that does not utilize a computer to process and view images. Instead a user peers through a thick glass window to view the florescent image that results from electrons being transmitted through a sample. But don’t let size fool you; this monster is still fragile with all of its vacuum components and, my favorite, the electron gun.

Another microscope that harnesses the energy of electrons is the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The SEM uses magnets to “scan” the gold-plated specimen to produce images using secondary (excited) electrons to excite more electrons inside a TV-picture tube that gives us an image. The SEM was significantly smaller than the TEM, but both produce images in black and white.

To live life in color, forget about messing around with electrons, the latest in microscope technology has begun to favor using lasers for imaging. The ability for lasers to be nanometers in size and incredibly accurate and precise is a major benefit for scientists utilizing microscopes such as confocal microscopes. What’s even better is that the confocal microscope can excite molecules (like DNA) that are labeled with florescent molecules (these come in really cool colors!) excited by the laser to give you pinpoint precision in your image.

Our eye opening tour ended with a microscope used to watch live cells as they respond to a treatment under various conditions. It was really cool to see that pictures can be recorded at regular intervals to create movies of samples as they relate to your experiment.

With that said, there are millions of microscopic nooks and crannies awaiting our peering eyes. So, what are you waiting for, stop reading this and get back to your microscope!

Charles Martinez, UBRP Associate and MARC student in Dr. Rodney Adam’s lab, Medicine