Credit: AM. PHYS. SOC.

Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 018101 (2009)

Sliced chromosome is on the menu, thanks to a tour-de-force of X-ray microscopy. Yoshinori Nishino of the RIKEN SPring-8 Center in Hyogo, Japan, and his co-workers have recorded three-dimensional sectional images of a human chromosome (pictured) using coherent X-ray diffraction microscopy.

Chromosomes are too dense for electron microscopes to see 'inside' them, and fluorescent light microscopy can reveal only selected features. By contrast, the X-ray diffraction method offers a full three-dimensional view of electron density in a single chromosome about 2 micrometres across, showing the internal structure with a resolution of about 120 nanometres.