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Advanced microscopes are allowing a closer look at life

June 24th, 2025
Advanced microscopes are allowing a closer look at life
Dr. Ben Steventon's team studies developmental biology—how animals develop from a single cell into a complete organism. They want to understand how cells decide what they're going to become—like skin, muscle, or brain—and how these choices happen at the right time and place in development. The central 3D image is the growing tip of a zebrafish embryo's tail, showing individual cells. The colored images around this show groups of cells in which different genes are activated, which determines the ability of the cells to generate different types of tissue. The image was created using a laser scanning confocal microscope. Credit: Dillan Saunders

A team at the University of Cambridge is helping to drive biological discovery through innovation in microscope technologies.

Dr. Lisa-Maria Needham, who leads the University's Microscopy Bioscience Platform, said, "We're in a unique position here in Cambridge of being surrounded by amazing biological research. The thing I love most about developing new microscopes is collaborating with the biologists to create technology with real-world applications in mind. We're developing microscopes that don't exist anywhere in the world."

She added, "Technical staff are often not as highly regarded as researchers, but we're all scientists. I have an amazing, intelligent, creative team of people who love tech and they're enabling science that wouldn't otherwise happen."

"I believe advances in technology go hand in hand with biological discovery. Scientists get to a certain point in their research where they know there's something going on, but nothing exists to help them see it. That's driving technological innovation."

These images show some of the groundbreaking research supported by Needham's team.

  • Advanced microscopes are allowing a closer look at life
    This image shows chicken embryos at 24h, 30h and 38h of development, stained with fluorescent dyes to show when different genes are switched on in the developing nervous system. The forebrain (in magenta) develops first, then the hindbrain (in green) and spinal cord (in red). Credit: Alexandra Neaverson, in Dr. Ben Steventon's team.
  • Advanced microscopes are allowing a closer look at life
    Dr. Emilia Santos and her team are exploring how biodiversity develops and changes over time, using tropical cichlid fish. The team is studying special pigment patterns called egg-spots - bright markings found on the anal fins of many male cichlids. These are important for attracting mates and vary widely in size, number, and position, both between and within species. The yellow reveals a gene the team is looking at. By studying where and when certain genes are switched on, they hope to understand how the striking patterns develop and evolve. Credit: Dr. Aleksandra Marconi, in Dr. Emilia Santos' team.
  • Advanced microscopes are allowing a closer look at life
    In this cichlid embryo about two days after fertilization, basic outlines of major structures like the brain and eyes are already visible. The team studies the cells in pink, from a group called the 'neural crest', which move throughout the embryo and later develop into a wide range of adult features including skin pigment patterns and facial structures. Since these traits vary greatly between cichlid species, studying how the neural crest works helps the team understand the origins of the species' incredible diversity. Credit: Dr. Aleksandra Marconi.
  • Advanced microscopes are allowing a closer look at life
    Dr. Fengtong Ji is developing nanorobots that can live inside embryos, and these are helping gain new insights into how body tissues develop. This spinning disk confocal microscopy image reveals cells (blue) growing with nanorobots (red dots). The nanorobots organize into a pattern as the cells move, which reveals the tissue mechanics in a developing chicken embryo's tail. Credit: Dr. Fengtong Ji
  • Advanced microscopes are allowing a closer look at life
    Dr. Susie McLaren is exploring how corals and sea anemones form partnerships with algae - a relationship essential for the health of coral reefs. Her goal is to contribute to efforts to conserve and recover marine ecosystems. This image is of a developing sea anemone with spherical algae living inside its cells. The tentacles face upwards towards the light and the algae produce nutrients from photosynthesis, transferring some of these nutrients to their host. Credit: Dr. Susie McLaren
  • Advanced microscopes are allowing a closer look at life
    Dr. Needham leads the University of Cambridge's Microscopy Bioscience Platform which has a research arm focused on technology innovation. She believes advances in technology go hand in hand with biological discovery. Credit: Jacqueline Garget

Provided by University of Cambridge

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