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.

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Recent posts

JCS snapshot: the endoplasmic reticulum protein FAM134B acts as a regulator of mitochondrial morphology

Posted by FocalPlane, on 14 January 2026

In our latest JCS snapshot we hear from Sebabrata Maity, who, together with Oishee Chakrabarti and colleagues, discovered that the endoplasmic reticulum protein FAM134B acts as a regulator of mitochondrial morphology.

Imaging spotlight: Revealing mouse brain ultrastructure using non-destructive X-ray tomography

Posted by FocalPlane, on 13 January 2026

In this paper highlight, Carles Bosch, Ana Diaz, Adrian A. Wanner and Andreas T. Schaefer (on behalf of all authors) describe how they use nondestructive X-ray tomography to map mouse brain tissue ultrastructure .

JCS snapshot – Bile canaliculi formation in primary hepatocytes requires α1β1 integrin-dependent adherens junction re-organisation

Posted by FocalPlane, on 12 January 2026

In our latest JCS snapshot we hear from Anne Müsch, who, together with David Cohen and Francisco Lázaro-Diéguez, discovered that bile canaliculi formation in primary hepatocytes requires α1β1 integrin-dependent adherens junction re-organisation.

Crick BioImage Analysis Symposium (2025) – a review

Posted by Stefania Marcotti, on 12 January 2026

The Crick BioImage Analysis Symposium 2025 (#CBIAS2025) took place in London in November 2025. We asked three early-career participants, Jacqueline Chalakova, Anna Foix and Deniz Bekat, to tell us how it went. Read below for what they had to say! — Jacqueline Chalakova This was my first time participating in the Crick Bioimage Analysis Symposium,

Microscopy preprints – new tools and techniques in imaging

Posted by FocalPlane, on 9 January 2026

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!

Imaging spotlight: Lock-in-SIM

Posted by FocalPlane, on 8 January 2026

In this paper highlight from Wenjie Liu and colleagues, we learn about Lock-in-SIM, a new methodology for structured illumination microscopy.

Featured image with Christina Daly

Posted by FocalPlane, on 6 January 2026

Our featured image, acquired by Christina Daly, is of an E9.5 murine neural tube. The embryo was fixed in 4% Paraformaldehyde, embedded in agarose, and vibratome-sectioned at 100 mm thickness. The sections were stained with for F-actin with phalloidin and imaged on a Nikon A1R confocal.

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