Combining various imaging techniques, an interdisciplinary team of scientists in Europe have developed a way to visualize and quantify early embryogenesis in zebrafish, according to a study published this week in Science.
"We want to turn all the verbal descriptions of biology into
something that's going to be quantitative and formal," said embryologist
and coauthor Nadine Peyriéras of the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France. "We've been largely unable so far to do that."
The team used two imaging techniques that take advantage of the
fact that signals are emitted when lasers interact with living tissues.
One type of light emission, known as the third harmonic generation,
provides information about the contours of the cell. The second harmonic
generation, in contrast, provides information about mitotic spindles.
Together, these two signals yielded a three dimensional view of
developing zebrafish embryos, a model organism of vertebrate
embryogenesis, allowing the researchers to measure cell size and shape
and track cell lineage throughout the first 10 cell divisions.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Video: See fish grow - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences
Author: Jef Akst
