A trick of the light: the optical properties of living cytoplasm which can mislead

Hallett, Maurice Bartlett ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8197-834X and Dewitt, Sharon ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8169-8241 2011. A trick of the light: the optical properties of living cytoplasm which can mislead. Integrative Biology 3 (3) , pp. 180-184. 10.1039/c0ib00039f

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Our understanding of the dynamic chemical changes within living cells has increased enormously as a direct result of imaging and manipulating techniques which rely on the use of light to penetrate the cell. These optical techniques are at the intersection of the three sciences: physics, chemistry and biology. However, the understanding of the physics of illumination (e.g. lasers, confocal microscopy) and the chemistry of fluors (synthetic and protein) is way ahead of the understanding of the biological interface posed by the cell itself. In this critical review we will show that ignoring the optical properties of living cells can lead to serious errors of interpretation and that even seemingly compelling images can result from a “trick of the light”.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Dentistry Medicine
Subjects:	R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
Publisher:	RSC Publishing
ISSN:	1757-9694
Last Modified:	19 Oct 2022 10:39
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/25127

Citation Data

Cited 5 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item