Day 2 started with a plenary by the inventor of the charge-coupled device (Dr. George Smith) that provided a great overview of the research done at Bell Labs over several decades. The 2009 Nobel Laureate in Physics said that it was a matter of weeks between the first discussion of the idea and an initial prototype that proved the technology could work. My favorite moment was in a response to a question after his talk, Dr. Smith said that if he knew how to advance CCD technology to measure light intensity, then he would not certainly not tell anybody until he had the chance to submit a patent. This was followed by a presentation by Dr. Byoungho Lee who provided an overview of the history of the 3D display and alluded to where this impressive technology is headed in the future (making me want to start shopping for a 3D television). Other talks I enjoyed included:
1) A group at U Penn using an oligonucleotide-based probe to image RNA in living cells (BM2A.2). This techniques shows a 100-fold increase in fluorescence when the probe is bound compared to the quenched unbound state. After microporation, these "Ratiometric BiMolecular Beacons" can be used to actually image individual RNA molecules as they move from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. Very impressive!
2) A group in St. Louis using an integrated fiber-based approach to combine diffuse optical tomography, NanoSPECT, and CT for a multimodality imaging (BM2A.6). Coregistering molecular and anatomical data certainly gives researchers a better idea as to where both optical and nuclear signal is coming from.
3) A label-free technique called spatial light interference microscopy, a novel sparse deconvolution method, that a group in Illinois has demonstrated can increase image resolution 2.5-fold (BM4B.2). The investigators used SLIM to visualize coil-like structures within E. coli cells that were not visible with other techniques. As long as the e. coli stays under the microscope and not in my dinner, I will be happy.
Last night was the official conference reception with drinks and appetizers. I went hungry and ready to network!
1) A group at U Penn using an oligonucleotide-based probe to image RNA in living cells (BM2A.2). This techniques shows a 100-fold increase in fluorescence when the probe is bound compared to the quenched unbound state. After microporation, these "Ratiometric BiMolecular Beacons" can be used to actually image individual RNA molecules as they move from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. Very impressive!
2) A group in St. Louis using an integrated fiber-based approach to combine diffuse optical tomography, NanoSPECT, and CT for a multimodality imaging (BM2A.6). Coregistering molecular and anatomical data certainly gives researchers a better idea as to where both optical and nuclear signal is coming from.
3) A label-free technique called spatial light interference microscopy, a novel sparse deconvolution method, that a group in Illinois has demonstrated can increase image resolution 2.5-fold (BM4B.2). The investigators used SLIM to visualize coil-like structures within E. coli cells that were not visible with other techniques. As long as the e. coli stays under the microscope and not in my dinner, I will be happy.
Last night was the official conference reception with drinks and appetizers. I went hungry and ready to network!
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