Latest news with #MarineBiologicalLaboratory
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nikon Announces Judging Panel for the 51st Annual Small World Competition
MELVILLE, N.Y., May 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Nikon Instruments Inc. today announced the judging panel for the 2025 Nikon Small World photomicrography and Small World in Motion video competitions, which will be held June 4–5 at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. For over five decades, the Nikon Small World competition has been regarded as the premier platform for displaying the intricate beauty of life as seen through the light microscope. As in previous years, the competition will honor the top 20 photography and top 5 video winners, in addition to awarding honorable mentions and images of distinction. Submissions will be evaluated on originality, informational content, technical proficiency, and visual impact. Winners may receive up to $3,000 and international media recognition. "Every year, each member of our judging panel brings a unique perspective that helps curate a collection of images and videos that not only reflects advancements in scientific imaging and research but also sparks curiosity and wonder for a global audience," said Eric Flem, Senior Manager, Communications and CRM at Nikon Instruments. The 2025 judging panel features five top-tier experts in the fields of science and media, each of whom will leverage their diverse expertise in both science and art to evaluate which submissions best align with the competition's criteria: Deboki Chakravarti, PhD is a science writer based out of western Massachusetts who focuses on creating educational science videos and podcasts, including "Journey to the Microcosmos," "Tiny Matters," "Scishow Tangents," and "Crash Course Organic Chemistry." From designing better bike seats to existential crises inspired by amoebas, Chakravarti's work covers a wide range of subjects, all of which are tied together by her fascination with how science interacts with the culture around it. Chakravarti received her PhD in biomedical engineering from Boston University, where she worked on engineering T cells for cancer immunotherapy. Prior to that, she earned her bachelor's degree in bioengineering and English from The California Institute of Technology. Jeff DelViscio is the chief multimedia editor/executive producer at Scientific American. He is the former director of multimedia at STAT, where he oversaw all visual, audio, and interactive journalism. Before that, he spent more than eight years at The New York Times, where he worked on five different desks across the paper. DelViscio holds dual master's degrees from Columbia University in journalism and in earth and environmental sciences. He has worked aboard oceanographic research vessels and tracked money and politics in science from Washington, D.C. He was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT in 2018–19. DelViscio's work has won numerous awards, including two News and Documentary Emmys. Andrew Moore, PhD is a postdoctoral scientist in the Lippincott-Schwartz Lab at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus who specializes in cell biology with a focus on organelle-cytoskeleton interactions. He completed his graduate training in the Holzbaur Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, where he researched mitochondria quality control and dynamics. Currently, Moore's work centers on understanding how cells organize and position their organelles, particularly exploring the interactions between vimentin intermediate filaments and the endoplasmic reticulum. His research combines advanced light and volume electron microscopy techniques to delve into the complexities of cell structure and function. Moore is no stranger to Nikon Small World; he has placed six photos and six videos in the competitions since 2018 and looks forward to experiencing this year's competition from the other side of the judges' table. Liz Roth-Johnson, PhD is a scientist turned science communicator with more than a decade of experience making complex scientific ideas accessible and compelling to broad audiences. At the California Science Center, Roth-Johnson oversees the development of fun, memorable exhibit experiences that spark curiosity and inspire science learning in all ages and backgrounds. Recent projects include a Nikon Small World exhibit that explores some of the light microscopy tools and techniques scientists use to study life. Prior to her tenure at the California Science Center, Roth-Johnson created popular online food science content, reported science stories for KQED Science, consulted for the Autry Museum of the American West, and designed introductory biology courses for undergraduate students at UCLA. Roth-Johnson earned her PhD in molecular biology from UCLA and received her BA degree from UC Berkeley, where she majored in molecular & cell biology and music. She completed postdoctoral work as a Discipline-Based Education Research Fellow in the UCLA Department of Life Science Core Education. W. Gregory Sawyer, PhD is chief bioengineering officer and chair of the Department of BioEngineering at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. Professor Sawyer has published over 200 journal papers, has over 16,000 citations, holds over 20 patents, and is most proud of his numerous PhD students who are now faculty members and scientists across the globe. He was a member of the original Mars Rover Program (NASA-JPL), a speaker at TED 8, led the first space-tribology experiments on the International Space Station (ISS), developed novel biomaterials for the ocular surface, and is currently leading efforts in Cancer Engineering. The Nikon Small World in Motion video winners will be announced in late September, and the winners of the Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition will be released in mid-October, 2025. For additional information, please visit and follow the competition on Facebook, LinkedIn, X (@NikonSmallWorld), Instagram (@nikonsmallworld), and Bluesky (@ About Nikon Small World Photomicrography CompetitionThe Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition is open to anyone with an interest in photography or video through the microscope. Participants may view details and upload digital images and videos directly at For additional information, contact Nikon Small World, Nikon Instruments Inc., 1300 Walt Whitman Road, Melville, NY 11747, USA, or email us at ABOUT NIKON INSTRUMENTS Instruments Inc. is the US microscopy arm of Nikon Healthcare, a world leader in the development and manufacture of optical and digital imaging technology for biomedical applications. For more information, visit or contact us at 1-800-52-NIKON. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Nikon Instruments Inc. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists achieve 3D molecular mapping with breakthrough hybrid microscope
A hybrid microscope developed at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) allows scientists to capture both the 3D orientation and position of molecular ensembles, such as labeled proteins inside cells. The microscope combines polarized fluorescence, which measures molecular orientation, with a dual-view light sheet microscope (diSPIM) that captures depth details in a sample. This technology can be useful for studying proteins, as they change their 3D orientation in response to their environment to interact with other molecules and perform their functions. According to Talon Chandler of CZ Biohub San Francisco, the study's first author and a former University of Chicago graduate student who conducted part of this research at MBL, the instrument allows researchers to record changes in 3D protein orientation. This capability provides insights that may be missed when looking only at a molecule's position. One example is imaging molecules in the spindle of a dividing cell, a challenge that has long been studied at MBL and other research institutions. The study's co-author, Rudolf Oldenbourg, a senior scientist at MBL, explained that traditional microscopy, including polarized light, can effectively image the spindle when it is perpendicular to the viewing direction. However, when the spindle is tilted, the readout becomes ambiguous. The new instrument overcomes this limitation by adjusting for tilt, allowing researchers to accurately capture both the 3D orientation and position of spindle molecules, such as microtubules. Now, the team aims to improve the system's speed to capture how the position and orientation of structures change in live samples over time. They also hope that future fluorescent probes will expand its use, allowing researchers to image a wider range of biological structures. The idea for the microscope originated in 2016 through brainstorming sessions among microscopy innovators at MBL. Hari Shroff of HHMI Janelia, then at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and an MBL Whitman Fellow, was using his custom-built diSPIM microscope at MBL, developed in collaboration with Abhishek Kumar, now at MBL. The diSPIM microscope features two imaging paths that intersect at a right angle, allowing researchers to illuminate and capture the sample from both perspectives. This dual-view approach improves depth resolution compared to a single view and provides greater control over polarization during imaging. Shroff and Oldenbourg recognized that the dual-view microscope could help overcome a limitation of polarized light microscopy - its difficulty in efficiently illuminating a sample with polarized light along the direction of light propagation. By incorporating two orthogonal views, they saw an opportunity to improve the detection of polarized fluorescence and explored using the diSPIM system for such measurements. Shroff collaborated with Patrick La Riviere from the University of Chicago, whose student Talon Chandler joined the project at MBL. Chandler's doctoral thesis focused on integrating the two systems, working in Oldenbourg's lab for a year. The team, including Shalin Mehta, outfitted the diSPIM with liquid crystals to control input polarization direction. Chandler dedicated a significant amount of time to exploring how to reconstruct the data and maximize what could be recovered from it. Co-author Min Guo, then at Shroff's previous lab at NIH, also worked extensively on this aspect, and together, they achieved their goal of full 3D reconstructions of molecular orientation and position.
