FocalPlane - Where biology meets microscopy

Welcome to FocalPlane

FocalPlane is a community site for anyone who uses microscopy in their research. It is a place where you can interact with a global community of imaging scientists, engineers, chemists, and bioimage analysts.

FocalPlane is your site and once registered, you are free to share a blog post, add an image to our gallery, post a job advert or put up an event listing.

Create an account to share your story or to stay up-to-date with the latest news.

Join or access here

Recent posts

Sustainable travel incentives and prize at Biologists @100

Posted by Teodora Andreea Rînciog, on 19 February 2025

We are delighted to announce sustainable travel incentives for those travelling to our Biologists @ 100 conference. Sustainable rail incentives up to £150 will be available for international train journeys and we are offering a prize of £700 in our sustainable travel blog competition. See more details here.

Bringing the past into the future with JCS and FocalPlane

Posted by Helen Zenner, on 19 February 2025

As The Company of Biologists celebrates its 100-year anniversary, Saanjbati Adhikari and Seema Grewal look back over the history and evolution of Journal of Cell Science – from its early days as the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science (QJMS) to the publication we are familiar with today. You can read about the past, present and

Featured image with Amy Engevik

Posted by FocalPlane, on 14 February 2025

Our featured image, acquired by Amy Engevik, shows a differentiated intestinal organoid from a germline Myosin 5b knockout mouse.

Apply for The Company of Biologists Workshop on Democratising Microscopy in Latin America

Posted by FocalPlane, on 11 February 2025

The deadline for places at The Company of Biologists Workshop on Democratising Microscopy in Latin America in Baños de Agua Santa, Ecuador is coming up soon. The Workshop organisers, Constadina Arvanitis, Mario Del Rosario, Helena De la Torre, Mariana De Niz, Maria Fernanda Latorre Barragán and Licyel Lenny Paulas Condori, have put together a fantastic

Microscopy preprints – new tools and techniques in imaging

Posted by FocalPlane, on 7 February 2025

Here is a curated selection of preprints posted recently on new tools and techniques in imaging. Let us know if we are missing any recent preprints that are on your reading list!

Enter the Node-FocalPlane image competition

Posted by FocalPlane, on 5 February 2025

To accompany the Biologists @ 100 conference, we are launching the Node–FocalPlane image competition. Enter your best biological research images for your chance to win £250.

How Do +TIPs Control Microtubule Dynamics Through Phase Separation?

Posted by Neelabh Datta, on 31 January 2025

What do you believe drives the precise regulation of microtubule dynamics in eukaryotic cells, allowing them to efficiently divide, move, and communicate? Well, at the heart of this process lies a diverse group of proteins known as microtubule plus-end tracking proteins (+TIPs), which assemble into highly regulated networks at the growing ends of microtubules. These

View more posts …