X-Ray Microscopy as a Tool for Inspiring Others

This talk discusses ways to introduce new investigators to X-ray microscopy and explore the features that make it a useful tool across multiple biological disciplines. Particularly, I will showcase how X-ray microscopy can be incorporated into an ‘imaging pipeline’ with light and electron microscopy to leverage the advantages of each technique in order to gain a deeper understanding of biological mechanisms across spatial scales. This collaborative approach among imaging modalities can provide a fresh perspective to decades-old questions and open up entirely new research directions, making X-ray imaging a critical component of biological investigations in the coming decades.

Key Learnings:

• X-ray microscopy is a powerful way of imaging drosophila fruit flies without the need for dissection. 
• High levels of detail can be gained from the X-ray reconstructions and subsequent segmentation and quantification of internal organs is providing new insights into this valuable model organism. 
• Comparison of genetic models is one example of how the 3D images can be used to provide new information.