Nanosuit for insects will allow to observe them in the smallest scale

One of the most powerful tools in biology has an ironic limitation: it can only scan dead things. Scanning electron microscope (for convenience we will call it simply SEM) allowed scientists for the first time to see the double helix of DNA, to understand how various insects are engineered, and revealed the human immunodeficiency virus which causes AIDS. REM fine tiny things, but due to the fact that electrons could jump from their surfaces and to give the picture, he needs a vacuum. And for living beings, as we know, the vacuum — death.

Anyway, such is. A team of Japanese scientists has developed a chemical coating that allowed them to place the living beings inside the vacuum chamber of the SEM and to keep them alive. Because of this, scientists were able to observe the biological processes of living entities in minute proportions. They called the new invention "the nanosuit" — NanoSuit. Recalling a preservative in chemical properties, NanoSuit hides the sample in the nanometer flexible layer that holds moisture and does not break backward scattering of electrons, which is taken by the microscope. In short, the NanoSuit saves lives. Even the smallest of organisms, but still.

NanoSuit also saves a lot of time which is usually spent on training. Working with samples without the nanosuit, scientists first need to process the target chemicals, killing her and drying. But this technique in fact distorts the appearance of the surface. Takahiko of Hariyama, the researcher biomimetic in medical school at the University of Shizuoka in Japan, one of the developers NanoSuit, says that the coating allowed for the first time in history to see the body of an insect, untainted by chemicals and dehydration. After the insects are covered with a solution consisting of distilled water and a food preservative Tween 20, dried and sent to a vacuum chamber in their bodies is enough air, so they can survive for hours, actively moving under the microscope.

 

In any case, REM is not only used in biology not only for the study of beetles. Electrons allow scientists to see things at the cellular level, up to 0.6 nm. Hariyama says that such scales do not represent any problems for the NanoSuit. Perhaps he will allow people to see things in three dimensions, as transcription of the genome and the progression of the cancerous tissue. With the resolution of the SEM, such a vision in real time can lead to the appearance of the best medicine. In any case, although Hariyama argues that the NanoSuit has shown good results, specific description of their experiments is still to print. View.

Source: hi-news.ru