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.
Recent posts
Featured image with David Gaboriau
Posted by FocalPlane, on 11 October 2024
Our featured image, acquired by David Gaboriau, shows human fibroblasts with mitochondria (Tom20) in yellow, alpha tubulin in pink and actin in grey. It’s a 3D-SIM image taken on a Zeiss Elyra PS.1, reconstructed in Zen and presented as a maximum intensity projection. Find out more about David’s research below: Research career so far: I’m originally avEM reveals the cellular composition of the Blood Nerve Barrier
Posted by Mario Elias Ortega Sandoval, on 11 October 2024
Using Serial Block-Face-SEM6 and AT-SEM, we characterized the cellular composition and interactions along EndoBVs7. Unlike the BBB, we observed that the vasculature within the endoneurium is not completely covered. Upon closer examination of the cells in contact with EndoBVs, we identified three distinct cell types frequently interacting with the vasculature.Interview with Giulia Casal, the inaugural recipient of the Volume Electron Microscopy (vEM) Ambassador Travel Award!
Posted by Mario Elias Ortega Sandoval, on 11 October 2024
We congratulate Giulia for being the first recipient of the vEM Ambassador Travel Award! and thank her for advocating for our vEM Community! Giulia Casal is a PhD student in Prof. Alison Lloyd’s lab at the Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology (LMCB) at University College London (UCL), where she is studying the blood nerve barrierMicroscopy preprints – applications in biology
Posted by FocalPlane, on 4 October 2024
Here is a curated selection of preprints published recently. In this post, we share preprints that use microscopy tools to answer questions in biology.STED User Group (BINA/Canada BioImaging), October 10, 12pm EST
Posted by Ethan A. Perets, on 3 October 2024
The next installment of the BioImaging North America and Canada BioImaging STED user group will take place via Zoom on October 10 at 12 pm EST. Andréanne Deschênes (Université Laval) will deliver a presentation, “Multicolor STED Nanoscopy”, followed by group discussion on topics of community interest. This user group is targeted at users of all experience levels, andWhen the collaboration makes it out of the joint lab meeting
Posted by Elizabeth-Ann Legere, on 3 October 2024
I am incredibly grateful to The Company of Biologists (Journal of Cell Science) for funding my three-week research collaboration with the lab of Dr. Gabriel Galea at University College London (UCL). My research in Dr. Aimee Ryan’s lab uses chick embryos to examine cell morphogenetic changes and protein localization patterns during neural tube development, theApply to become a reporter at the Biologists @ 100 conference
Posted by FocalPlane, on 3 October 2024
Are you keen to get more science communication experience? Is your research related to microscopy or cell biology? FocalPlane is looking for a reporter to attend and report from the Biologists @ 100 conference, happening 24 – 27 March 2025 in Liverpool, UK.Most read on FocalPlane
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Image credits
Neuromuscular junctions – Rebecca Simkins
Mitochondria and microtubules – Till Stephan
Mammary gland organoid – Oona Paavolainen
Dopaminergic neuron – Nick Gatford
CLEM HeLa cell – Marie-Charlotte Domart, Chris Peddie
Microscopy-related articles from our journals
- HCR spectral imaging: 10-plex, quantitative, high-resolution RNA and protein imaging in highly autofluorescent samples Development 2024 151: dev202307
- filoVision – using deep learning and tip markers to automate filopodia analysis J Cell Sci 2024 137: jcs261274
- Computational tools for quantifying actin filament numbers, lengths, and bundling Biology Open 2024 13: bio.060267
Gallery categories
- Confocal microscopyApply
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- Single plane illumin..ation microscopy (SPIM / Light sheet)Apply
- Total internal refle..ction fluorescence (TIRF) microscopyApply
- Electron microscopyApply
- Multi-photon microsc..opyApply
- Label-free microscop..yApply
- DyesApply
- Genetic probesApply
- Optical manipulationApply
- Functional imagingApply