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.

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Recent posts

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

Featured image with Ellen C. O’Shaughnessy

Posted by FocalPlane, on 31 January 2025

Our featured image shows the locations of exocytic hotspots in a developing cortical neuron.

How to make labs more sustainable

Posted by Teodora Andreea Rînciog, on 27 January 2025

Due to the high interest in learning more about making labs more environmentally- friendly, we decided to offer you an insight into what sustainable practices we can include in the lab. Therefore, we had invited Jeroen Dobbelaere to be a guest author for our newest series of blogs entitled “How to make labs more sustainable”.

Microscopy preprints – bioimage analysis

Posted by FocalPlane, on 24 January 2025

Here is a curated selection of preprints published recently. In this post, we focus specifically on bioimage analysis and data management.

The Foldscope: my portal to another world

Posted by Amy Lowell, on 24 January 2025

Hi, my name is Amy, I’m fifteen years old and I am here to tell you about my Foldscope! What is a Foldscope? A Foldscope is a portable, flat microscope that can fit into your back pocket. It is made of cardboard, cut then folded, and fitted together. The microscope is inspired by origami, hence

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