Special Scientific Events

Organizer:
Dave Piston, Department of Biophysics, Vanderbilt University. Email:dave.piston@mcmail.vanderbilt.edu

A convergence of newly developed instrumentation and optical probes is allowing researchers to examine dynamic processes within ever more complicated biological systems. These new tools are affecting how almost all biological optical microscopy experiments are performed. The introduction of the Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) changed the way live cell experiments are done, but the palette of usable labels continues to expand with new organic fluorophores, quantum dots, and methods to accurately target such probes on the surface and within living cells. Instrumentation also continues to improve, and now allows quantitative spectroscopic methods to be used in an imaging modality. These include fluorescence lifetime imaging, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, resonance energy transfer microscopy, and single molecule techniques. An emerging area is the development of high-throughput screening approaches based on these advanced spectroscopic methods. This pre-meeting congress will bring together experts in instrumentation, probe development, and biological applications for a focused discussion of the field and future directions. The speakers will describe the latest developments in live cell imaging from isolated cells, intact tissue, whole organisms, and in high-content screening contexts.

The following have generously provided support for the Pre-Meeting Congress:

• Carl Zeiss MicroImaging, Inc.
• Chroma Technology Corporation
• Leica Microsystems, Inc.
• Hamamatsu Corporation
• Nikon Instruments, Inc.
• Olympus Amercia, Inc.
• Universal Imaging Corporation