Since I find myself stuck with work all the time recently, I felt there was not much of interest to contribute. However, I did some interesting stains at work lately and alright I admit it is not a gigantic squid or Paris Hilton but I still wanted to share the experience with you.
Maybe it's my interest in Biology but I just believe it is beautiful and fascinating and I guess many of you have never seen a cell from up close.
Those cells are stained for tubulin, a protein that builds the skeleton of the cell. Unfortunately, it has been taken at the corner of a slide so that you see the glass rim as a diffuse green rim in the left upper corner. The oval (egg like) darker structures inside the green network are cell nuclei.
A great day to you all!
Barbara
PS: As soon as I manage I'll post the picture from the brunch...
PPS: Did you know that by clicking on the pictures you can enlarge them?
15 comments:
Thanks for such an unusual and enlightening image, Barbara. You are certainly correct in my case: I have never seen such an image before. It reminds me a little of those incredible images of outer space taken through a telescope. Your image represents a sort of "inner space", I suppose. Another world! Incidentally, why is it green? Is that the dye you used?
Duncan
P.S. How did you manage to write your text in green?!
You are right - there once was a show on Austrian TV that started by showing you a microscopic picture of the skin cells of a human being and then went farther and farther away until the earth was just a little dot and it just amazed me how much the cell components looked like the universe from far away.
To answer your questions:
In order to obtain this image I had an antibody recognize and bind to tubulin specifically.
The antibody I used is linked to a dye that fluoresces in green. If I remember correctly this dye was originally produced by a fish.
The text can be written in any color - there is a tool in the same area where on can upload an image.
Barbara
Gross Gott Gdagine Frau Barbara,
thanks for the post and the informatin. It is certainly more interesting than Duncan's squid and looking at Mr. Lugner's eye job (which come to think of it, resembles the squid a bit) anyway, this Biology stuff is fascinating considering that it affects all of us homo sapiens.
I'll give it to your Austrians, you are alwasy on the "cutting edge" of scientific research, unlike here in the US where everything is crumbling down.
How do you feel about stem cell research and how is this progressing in Austria?
Gov. Schwarnegger (sp, never could spell his name) is leading the research here in the US; CA is way ahead of the US, as a whole.
In any case, thanks for posting Barbara and I hope that you, Idriss, and our Viennese "expert" Duncan are havign a great day.
Today, it is now snowing in DC and everyone is in a panic.
All the best
svon
Hello Barbara and Duncan,
just an added comment about Space, I never could understand why everyone is so interested in space, the US, Richard Branson, etc. It seems a waste of money considering all the education and health problems here in the US.
Barbara, would you say that science and medicine have derived any benefit from the Space race?
In 1995, Karl and Francesca von Habsburg were in DC on a visit for her ARCH foundation and I was their DC escort. All Karl wanted to do was go to the Air & Space Museum here (part of the Smithsonian) and I could never understand why!
Please let me know your thoughts.
All the best to everyone,
svon
Fish dye, eh? Fascinating.
And what is Tubulin? In layperson's speak?
Regarding Karl Habsburg's eagerness to visit the Air and Space Museum, it sounds to me like a traditional case of "boys and toys" ("men and machines"), if you know what I mean.
Barbara: ignore my previous request! I just re-read your Blog and found the definition. "A protein that builds the skeleton of a cell". Thanks.
Hey Barbara and Duncan:
Great to read all of your blogs and I learned a lot. Now to the good stuff, it looks like my networking brunch will be Monday, May 7 from 6 - 8 pm. Waiting to confirm the venue. I will have either the Schwarz Kamel (I know the owners) or Meinl's cater it. What are your suggestions on either of these? Also, I will bring some things from the US that one cant get in Wien any place or at Bobbys, ie, Cape Cod Chips, Utz potato chips and Grandma Utz chips, Snyders of Hanover pretzels, etc. Any other suggestions since I want to be able to please everyone. Dont forget that our movie party will be on that Sunday and I will bring Orvill Reidenbacher's popcorn from here. That is the best there is. Duncan, you will finally get to see Bad Timing, A Sexual Obsession" and then after we visit the Klomser (sp?) Hotel, I will take you to the house on #2 SchonbrunnSchloss Strsse where the movie was filmed!
Hope you all have a great evening and great day in Wien.
I will answer emails on Thursday am- it is snowing here in DC and everyone is in a panic!
all the best
svon
Susan - it all sounds wonderful! Whatever you want to do is fine by me. Incidentally, where will we watch the film? I have no views on Meinl vs. Schwarzen Kameel. However, I CAN tell you that the Camelia plant is allegedly named after a relative of the founder, Johann Baptist Cameel. Almost unbelievable, I know!
Hello Duncan,
We will watch the Wien movies on DVD, which I will bring with me, that is if the riduclous US Homeland Security (what a weird name, anyway) dont confiscate it as being "contraband." The way this Country is going, one never knows. It boogles the mind!
Anyway, Idriss and Barbara have so kindly offered this very huge plasma screed TV to watch the movies, which take DVDs.
I will bring the niggles 8,000 miles, Duncan, you just bring yourself and Rosi.
All the best
svon
Sorry, I meant to type "nibbles".
Hope you all have a great day in Wien.
BYW, how is the weather now?
svon
Hi everybody!
Nibbles sounds great - espescially in conjunction with movies, great company and a good selection of films (I'm counting on you there Susan).
The weather here is fine. It's actually mostly sunny only that I don't get to see the sunshine since I'm at work most of the day.
Next week I have to teach students which means I have even less time to visit a blog and/ or email than usual - unfortunately that is a possible ;-).
Anyway as for the space matter I don't believe that it is a male thing (adressing Duncan's comment). The myth that boys like physics, sciences and machines is really just a myth. Or not - I probably rather not discuss this but I believe it ahs a lot to do with society. It is simply not fashionable for a woman to say to her female friends - let's go to the technical museum. However, that's an entirely different subject and has a lot more to it.
I believe that space is fascinating to many people and the possibility that someone can actually go out there and have a look at what we see only from far far away surely is exciting to people.
Whether or not we derive any benefit from it remains to be seen. I don't think anyone does astronomy seriously these days. Otehrwise we would ahve some effects from it. All it is done for now is to show to the people how powerful our governments are.
In a way it can be seen as science you see on TV when they launch a rocket. It's entertainment to the people and unfortunately not much more.
However, as a biologist I'm inclined to say that if it was possible for life to be created/formed on earth. I don't see why this shouldn't have been possible someplace else if the universe is endless.
And if there is someplace else wouldn't you want to see it or at least know about it?
And even if tehre was no other life maybe there is some substance out there that will be our energy source or a treatment component or something entirely different.
As I said the way it is done nowadays I don't think it is a good thing but it has already brought us things like internet and we shouldn't dismiss the possibility of it being something worth pursuing.
Plus how would we know about the polecaps melting if we hadn't seen it on a picture taken from space ;-).
Barbara raises some very good points here. I have to say that, for better or for worse, I know many men who love their cars, and for this "type" of man space rockets are just big cars. If what you say is correct, that we gain little benefit from space exploration, then those men interested in it are probably more interested in the machinery involved rather than the potential for enhancing mankind's continued existence on earth. I am not sure whether fashion really dictates women going to technical museums, but certainly history does, since for far too long women were largely excluded from the technical world, a situation that thankfully has now been rectified. How much more we would have achieved had women been more involved in the great inventions and discoveries of the last thousand years. It is interesting to think about how different the world would be today had this happened. And whether we would now live in a more peaceful world...
Barbara raises some very good points here. I have to say that, for better or for worse, I know many men who love their cars, and for this "type" of man space rockets are just big cars. If what you say is correct, that we gain little benefit from space exploration, then those men interested in it are probably more interested in the machinery involved rather than the potential for enhancing mankind's continued existence on earth. I am not sure whether fashion really dictates women going to technical museums, but certainly history does, since for far too long women were largely excluded from the technical world, a situation that thankfully has now been rectified. How much more we would have achieved had women been more involved in the great inventions and discoveries of the last thousand years. It is interesting to think about how different the world would be today had this happened. And whether we would now live in a more peaceful world...
Hello Barbara and Duncan:
Thank you for thie insight into this interesting world! Not being scientifi oriented myself, I wonder if it is a gender thing, I find this information fascinating and am so glad that Barbara is researching and teacing it. Perhaps she will be a future Nobel winner?
Duncan, to an extent you are correct about the female gender; perhaps if the world had more women at the helm, there would be more world peace since women are basically nurters and dont want to see their family members killed in wars, etc.
But then one has the example of Bodeacia (sp?) in the old Britianna and also Golda Meir in Israel?
In any case, where are Idriss and Richard posts? I would like their opnions.
Did anyone go to the Ulysses gallery opening on Satuday? Just wondered how it was.
All the best.
svon
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