Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Putting advanced microscopy in the hands of biologists

Nature Methods volume 16, pages 1069–1073 (2019)Cite this article

Subjects

The growth of advanced, custom microscopy has outpaced commercialization, with biologists unable to benefit from these developments. We propose a complementary model for access based on shareable, traveling and configurable microscopes, with potential benefits for biologists, developers and the community.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Conventional routes for microscopy access.
Fig. 2: Collaborations across disciplines.
Fig. 3: Shareable, traveling and configurable microscopy.
Fig. 4: Building around the sample.

References

  1. Owens, B. Nature 551, 659–662 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Rosenegger, D. G., Tran, C. H. T., LeDue, J., Zhou, N. & Gordon, G. R. PLoS ONE 9, e110475 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Maia Chagas, A., Prieto-Godino, L. L., Arrenberg, A. B. & Baden, T. PLoS Biol. 15, 1–21 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Gualda, E. J. et al. Biomed. Opt. Express 6, 4447 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Gualda, E. J. et al. Nat. Methods 10, 599–600 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Pitrone, P. G. et al. Nat. Methods 10, 598–599 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Marx, V. Nat. Methods 13, 979–982 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Kumar, A. et al. Nat. Protoc. 9, 2555–2573 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Gao, L., Shao, L., Chen, B.-C. & Betzig, E. Nat. Protoc. 9, 1083–1101 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Royer, L. A., Lemon, W. C., Chhetri, R. K. & Keller, P. J. Nat. Protoc. 13, 2462–2500 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Doerr, A. Nat. Methods 15, 33–33 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Laissue, P. P., Alghamdi, R. A., Tomancak, P., Reynaud, E. G. & Shroff, H. Nat. Methods 14, 657–661 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Karatsoreos, I. N., Bhagat, S., Bloss, E. B., Morrison, J. H. & McEwen, B. S. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 108, 1657–1662 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Balzarotti, F. et al. Science 355, 606–612 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Liu, T. L. et al. Science 360, eaaq1392 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Li, D. et al. Science 349, aab3500 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Wu, Y. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 108, 17708–17713 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Mickoleit, M. et al. Nat. Methods 11, 919–922 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Strnad, P. et al. Nat. Methods 13, 139–142 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Dhanasiri, A. K. S., Fernandes, J. M. O. & Kiron, V. Zebrafish 10, 87–98 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Montonye, D. R. et al. Front. Microbiol. 9, 1–13 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Dhanasiri, A. K. S., Fernandes, J. M. O. & Kiron, V. PLoS ONE 8, e65028 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Holmes, A. M., Emmans, C. J., Coleman, R., Smith, T. E. & Hosie, C. A. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 266, 21–28 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Power, R. M. & Huisken, J. Nat. Methods 14, 360–373 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Xie, Y. Science 344, 809–810 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Mongeon, P., Brodeur, C., Beaudry, C. & Lariviere, V. Res. Eval. 25, 396–404 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  27. Fortin, J. M. & Currie, D. J. PLoS ONE 8, e65263 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Wahls, W. P. eLife 7, 1–9 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Lorsch, J. R. Mol. Biol. Cell 26, 1578–1582 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Gaskill, B. N. & Garner, J. P. Lab Anim. 46, 142–145 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Obernier, J. A. & Baldwin, R. L. ILAR J. 47, 364–9 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the entire Huisken Lab for fruitful discussions on this topic. R.M.P was supported by Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) fellowship (LT000321/ 2015-C; R.M.P.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Morgridge Institute for Research, Madison, WI, USA

    Rory M. Power & Jan Huisken

  2. Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Jan Huisken

Authors
  1. Rory M. Power
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jan Huisken
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

R. M. P. and J. H. wrote the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jan Huisken.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Power, R.M., Huisken, J. Putting advanced microscopy in the hands of biologists. Nat Methods 16, 1069–1073 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-019-0618-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-019-0618-1

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing