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�������� has purchased a new, advanced confocal microscope with a grant from the National Institutes of Health awarded to Associate Scientist Michael Shribak.

Shribak, in collaboration with  of Japan's National Institute of Genetics (NIG) and ��������'s Tomomi Tani, will use the microscope to study heterochromatin (a condensed form of DNA) in living tissues. Previously, the team's work required two separate imaging steps:  obtaining a dry mass map of the samples at the �������� using a technique called quantitative orientation-independent differential interference contrast (OI-DIC) microscopy, followed by confocal microscopy at NIG in Japan. The need to perform imaging in two widely separated locales obviously complicated the experimental process as well as incurring increased expense.

OI-DIC image of immunohistochemistry for complement C4d component in kidney allograft. Credit: Michael Shribak (��������) and Arvydas Laurinavičius (Vilnius University)

The new microscope, an Olympus FV3000, combines confocal laser scanning with OI-DIC imaging capabilities to produce quantitative, high-resolution, thin-section images.  Shribak's team also recently showed that OI-DIC microscopy, which Shribak invented, can exceed the Abbe limit (the resolution limit of light microscopes), which will facilitate other research efforts at ��������. Unlike confocal microscopy, which uses a focused laser beam that can damage live organisms, OI-DIC employs a beam from a conventional halogen or LED lamp, which is safe for living tissues. The combination of these two powerful microscopy techniques in a single instrument allows for a wide range of high-resolution and 3D imaging experiments to be performed at ��������.

After receiving the new microscope in spring 2019, Shribak and his team will begin using it for new experiments in the summer.