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Methods to simultaneously localize the positions of multiple single fluorophores by precisely determining their individual positions are now yielding impressive gains in fluorescence microscopy resolution.
The combination of appropriate labeling and a new imaging software allows researchers to follow the progress of individual HIV particles within infected cells with outstanding precision.
Large-scale RNA interference (RNAi)-based analyses, very much as other 'omic' approaches, have inherent rates of false positives and negatives. The variability in the standards of care applied to validate results from these studies, if left unchecked, could eventually begin to undermine the credibility of RNAi as a powerful functional approach. This Commentary is an invitation to an open discussion started among various users of RNAi to set forth accepted standards that would insure the quality and accuracy of information in the large datasets coming out of genome-scale screens. Please visit methagora to view and post comments on this article
More and more scientists now see advantages in automating some of their more repetitive or error-prone tasks. Michael Eisenstein takes a look at systems that are helping to bring robotics into the academic and clinical research laboratory.