In 2023, the Center for Advanced Microscopy served 446 research users from 39 units in 9 colleges! The breakdown by college is as follows:
Natural Science – 222
Engineering – 97
Agriculture and Natural Resources – 60
Veterinary Medicine – 29
Human Medicine – 11
Arts and Letters – 10
Osteopathic Medicine – 9
Social Science – 6
Education – 2
After 49 years on the job and 26 years as Director, Dr. Stanley L. Flegler will be retiring at the end of Spring Semester. The current duties will be divided between two positions, Director and Assistant Director.
The Assistant Director position is now posted:
https://careers.msu.edu/en-us/job/517793/specialist-researchcontinuing
Please share widely.
CAM has taken delivery on a Leica Stellaris 5 confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM). This microscope is equipped with newly developed white light laser technology. A sub-nanosecond pulsed IR laser is directed into a photonic crystal fiber to generate coherent white light. Small bands of light are then selected by a tunable acousto-optical filter. Coherent light is available in the range of 488 to 685 nanometers. This allows selection of the precise wavelength needed.
The technology also allows FLIM (fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy) which produces an image based on the differences in the exponential decay rate of the fluorescence from a fluorescent sample.
This new microscope complements the existing CLSM capabilities at CAM. More information about the Leica Stellaris 5 microscope will be forthcoming on the CAM web page.
With profound sadness we announce the sudden and unexpected passing of Dr. Xudong Fan on Tuesday Aug. 9. Xudong has been the physical sciences transmission electron microscope supervisor at the Center for Advanced Microscopy since Feb. 2001. He came to MSU from the Solid State Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He was an excellent transmission electron microscopist and a vital part of our team at the Center for Advanced Microscopy. He will be greatly missed.
CAM has recently taken delivery of a 3i (Intelligent Imaging Innovations) spinning disk confocal microscope. This technology is an alternative to traditional point-scanning confocal laser scanning microscopes (CLSM). Instead of scanning a single point of laser across the sample one pixel at a time, the spinning disk confocal scans approximately 1,000 points simultaneously, providing significantly faster imaging rates. In addition, the high quantum efficiency EMCCD camera used for image detection of the spinning disk image can provide a significant increase in image sensitivity and reduced photodamage within the specimen. The increased imaging speed and sensitivity and reduced photodamage offered by the spinning disk confocal can provide significant advantages for advanced live cell imaging applications and for three-dimensional imaging of thick tissues, embryos, and organoids.
The 3i spinning disk confocal microscope complements the existing CLSM capabilities at CAM. More information about the 3i microscope will be forthcoming on the CAM web page.
We thank Amy Ralston and Federica Brandizzi for writing the grant that obtained funding for this microscope.
A special seminar on Zeiss Lightsheet Z.1 Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy (LSFM) is scheduled for Wednesday Oct. 30th at 10:00 a.m. in Room 162 of the Food Safety & Toxicology Bldg. (attached to the south side of the CIPS Bldg.).
This is the second in a series of seminars being sponsored by the Center for Advanced Microscopy on the subject of LSFM. The Oct. 30th seminar covers the subject of Multi-View LSFM, in which the fluorescence excitation and emission detection are split into two separate light paths, with illumination perpendicular to the detection. Fluorescence images may be collected faster and with less excitation light than many other fluorescence microscopy techniques, thus permitting optical sectioning and imaging of large samples with very little phototoxicity or photobleaching.
Courtney Akitake from Carl Zeiss Microscopy will be giving the presentation. The following link provides additional information about the Zeiss Lightsheet Z.1 features and configuration
https://www.zeiss.com/microscopy/us/products/imaging-systems/lightsheet-z-1.html
We hope to see you there.
The Center for Advanced Microscopy and MSU are hosting the fall meeting of the Michigan Microscopy and Microanalysis Society at the Kellogg Center on Thursday Oct. 31.
Full information and registration details about the meeting can be found at http://www.michmicroscopy.org
The program includes speakers in biological and physical sciences. Numerous microscope vendors will be present.
Space is available for volunteered talks and poster presentations.
We hope to see you there.
A special seminar on Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy (LSFM) is scheduled for Tuesday Oct. 8 at 2:00 p.m. in room 162 of the Food Safety & Toxicology Bldg. (attached to the south side of the CIPS Bldg.).
LSFM has much potential in facilitating dynamic live cell microscopy. The technique has less photobleaching and phototoxicity than conventional confocal microscopy, faster frame rates, and the ability to image deeper within samples.
This is the first in a series of seminars being sponsored by the Center for Advanced Microscopy on the subject of LSFM. The Oct. 8 seminar covers the subject of Lateral Interference Tilted Excitation (LITE), one of several variations of LSFM. Chris Baumann from Mizar Imaging will be giving the presentation. The attached article provides full details of the LITE method.
Please contact Melinda (framem@msu.edu) if you would like to schedule time for a demo of the system or to test your samples on the Tilt LITE module. Mizar will have a Tilt LITE Module installed in the confocal lab (CIPS room B-7) and will be available for demonstrations Wednesday Oct. 9 and Thursday Oct. 10.
Dates and times of future seminars will be posted.
The new JEOL 1400 Flash TEM is installed and operational! The new microscope is outstanding. Users comment on the ease of use and the excellent camera. Full details about the microscope can be found at the Link: Facilities, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) – Biological Sciences.
A new JEOL 1400 Flash Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) will be coming to the Center for Advanced (CAM) in the next few months. This new TEM will replace the JEOL 100CX TEM that has served MSU researchers for the past 34 years
The new JEOL 1400 Flash is at the cutting edge of technology with some very exciting and useful features.
The microscope will be equipped with a newly developed Matataki Flash sCMOS camera that dramatically reduces readout noise (less than 0.9 electrons) while maintaining an extremely high frame rate of 30 frames per second. The camera facilitates another feature, the automated Limitless Panorama Function (automated stitching) that can cover a wide area with no limitation on the number of pixels.
In addition, the microscope has an Optical Microscope Correlation function in which an image from an optical microscope can be imported and overlaid on a TEM image to facilitate correlative microscopy.
The microscope has an easy to use intuitive user interface that should facilitate teaching in NSC-810 and research use.
The lattice resolution is excellent, 0.2 nm using a High Contrast Pole Piece! This resolution will provide outstanding results on all biological samples and will be useful for many physical science TEM users.
The microscope will be equipped with a four grid holder, and all sample holders will be interchangeable between the JEOL 1400 and the other TEM at CAM, the JEOL 2200FS. The stage on the new TEM will be capable of plus or minus 70 degree tilts.
This new microscope represents a major advancement in the TEM capabilities at the Center for Advanced Microscopy and will benefit many MSU researchers and numerous off-campus users.