STORM Lab

No single type of imaging technique can give all information about a biological system, or even all structural information about a system. Additionally, every type of microscopy suffers its own inherent drawbacks and produces characteristic artifacts in the data it produces. For example, while electron microscopy undoubtedly boasts superior resolution and provides holistic cellular context, it suffers from a rather restricted viewing window, small z depth of imaging, incompatibility with live cells, and limited molecular specificity. In contrast, light microscopy has lower resolution, but compatibility with live cells and good molecular specificity. Other modalities similarly have their own advantages and pitfalls. Fortunately, when two or more modalities are combined to image the same targeted area, the strengths of each are reinforced, while the drawbacks are mitigated; thus, the questioning entity can form a clearer picture of his system of interest and begin to answer fundamental questions related to it.

In this way, our lab develops correlative super-resolution microscopy by combining super-resolution imaging with other microscopy techniques, including light microscopy, electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, andvarious forms of spectroscopy to attain diverse, detailed, and corroborated information about a system. These methods are employed if a particular biological query cannot be answered by any single modality alone, and information is needed on morphology, functionality, dynamics, cellular context, and even chemical composition. This development is expected to add new dimensions of information and provide new opportunities in the fast-growing field of SRM.

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