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

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.

Microscopy preprints: bioimage analysis

Posted by FocalPlane, on 29 December 2025

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

The Company of Biologist Workshop – Democratising Microscopy in Latin America: Imaging Across Scales and Regions

Posted by Helen Zenner, on 22 December 2025

In October, I was lucky enough to attend The Company of Biologist Workshop – Democratising Microscopy in Latin America: Imaging Across Scales and Regions. The organisers, Constadina Arvanitis, Mario Del Rosario, Helena De la Torre, Mariana De Niz, Maria Fernanda Latorre Barragán and Licyel Lenny Paulas Condori, put together an incredible programme featuring top researchers

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