Science Lab

Learn. Share. Contribute. The knowledge portal of Leica Microsystems. Find scientific research and teaching material on the subject of microscopy. The portal supports beginners, experienced practitioners and scientists alike in their everyday work and experiments. Explore interactive tutorials and application notes, discover the basics of microscopy as well as high-end technologies. Become part of the Science Lab community and share your expertise.

HeLa cells stimulated with LPS. Image has been subjected to deconvolution.

Chronic Inflammation Under the Microscope

In the course of chronic inflammation certain body areas are recurrently inflamed. This goes along with many human diseases. With the help of widefield light microscopy, the underlying processes can…

Transgenic zebrafish larva where fluorescent proteins label the heart muscle blue, blood and blood vessels red, and all circulatory system cells green. Image recorded with a M205 FA microscope.

Imaging and Analyzing Zebrafish, Medaka, and Xenopus

Discover how to image and analyze zebrafish, medaka, and Xenopus frog model organisms efficiently with a microscope for developmental biology applications from this article.

Fluorescence stereo microscope image of anesthetized Mediterranean fruit flies recorded with a M205 stereo microscope.

Investigating Fruit Flies (Drosophila melanogaster)

Learn how to image and investigate Drosophila fruit fly model organisms efficiently with a microscope for developmental biology applications from this article.

Universal PAINT – Dynamic Super-Resolution Microscopy

Super-resolution microscopy techniques have revolutionized biology for the last ten years. With their help cellular components can now be visualized at the size of a protein. Nevertheless, imaging…

Nobel Prize 2013 in Physiology or Medicine for Discoveries of the Machinery Regulating Vesicle Traffic

On October 7th 2013, The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has decided to award The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012 jointly to James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman and Thomas C. Südhof…

Handbook of Optical Filters for Fluorescence Microscopy

Fluorescence microscopy and other light-based applications require optical filters that have demanding spectral and physical characteristics. Often, these characteristics are application-specific and…

Widefield Calcium Imaging with Calcium Indicator Fura2

In eukaryotic cells Ca2+ is one of the most widespread second messengers used in signal transduction pathways. Intracellular levels of Ca2+ are usually kept low, as Ca2+ often forms insoluble…

Nobel Prize 2012 in Physiology or Medicine for Stem Cell Research

The Nobel Prize recognizes two scientists who discovered that mature, specialised cells can be reprogrammed to become immature cells capable of developing into all tissues of the body. Their findings…

Controlling the TIRF Penetration Depth is Mandatory for Reproducible Results

The main feature of total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy is the employment of an evanescent wave for the excitation of fluorophores instead of using direct light. A property of the…