| A Nikon high-contrast light microscope is intended for imaging biological assays. Nikon and JEOL will work to correlate data from their microscopes (light and electron respectively). Image: Nikon Instruments |
Nikon Instruments (Melville, NY) and JEOL (Tokyo, Japan) have partnered to research and develop ways to correlate data from two very different types of microscopy: light and electron microscopy.
Overcoming resolution limits imposed by the diffraction limit of light has been a major breakthrough in the field of light microscopy, as evidenced by the recent 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to the field of superresolution microscopy. With the development of superresolution technologies there has been growing interest in the research community to correlate light-microscopy data with electron-microscopy data to further push the limits of resolution.
Despite the breakthroughs in resolution limit, light microscopes cannot provide the molecular-level information that an electron microscope can. Conversely, electron microscopes are traditionally restricted to fixed (nonliving) samples; a limitation that is not present in light microscopy. Light microscopes also have the advantage of enabling selective visualization of structures resulting in an extremely high level of molecular specificity. The Nikon-JEOL alliance will research and develop tools that combine the advantages that each technology provides.
For more info on Nikon Instruments, see www.nikoninstruments.com
For more info on JEOL, see www.jeolusa.com