Imaging the Third Dimension at the Nanometer Resolution
This project funds acquisition of a 3View serial block face scanning electron microscope (SBFSEM) that will provide UW–Madison researchers the opportunity for large scale 3D reconstructions of cellular structures and connectivity measures at the finest resolution currently achievable and at an accuracy and speed not attainable by other imaging methods.
Many research labs and centers across the world have turned to serial block face SEM over the past decade to answer a vast number of questions about the structure/function of the mouse and primate nervous system, the zebrafish brain, fly brain, cornea, human hepatoma cells, carotid artery elastin, zebrafish heart, epidermal melanocytes, collagen fibrils, cardiac myocytes, chromatic architecture of hepatocytes and kidney ultrastructure, olfactory bulb, trophozoite, plant tubular networks and brain mitochondria. Given its vast applications across biology; almost any researcher interested in cell biology and cellular organization will have applications for the SBFSEM.