This article describes the application of the fastest commercially available video-rate atomic force microscope (AFM) for studying the molecular dynamics of biological samples with a temporal resolution reaching 20 ms per frame. High-speed AFM was used for monitoring the kinetics of the temperature-induced ripple phase transition in supported lipid bilayers, DNA origami streptavidin-biotin binding, thermodynamic rehybridization of DNA, collagen type I fibrillogenesis, and the mobile annexin V trimer dynamics in 2D protein crystals. With no further need for sample processing, the applied method offers a breakthrough in molecular and sample dynamics measurements by enabling the real-time visualization of molecular processes and structural transitions at near-native conditions.

The Prospective Instruments MPX-series is a turnkey compact multimodal microscope enabling advanced multiphoton imaging without requiring a laboratory or optical bench. One of the key design features is the ultrafast fiber laser engine integrated into the free moving scan head, which is lightweight, rugged, and allows the ultimate imaging flexibility. A modular design concept allows the user to explore a wide variety of biological applications and measurements, without compromising performance, in any indoor working space. In contrast, standard setups are non-transportable, utility-demanding, and the complexity can be complicated, therefore degrading the value and adding significant initial, short- and long-term expenses. Every clinical and biological researcher should have access to high-quality reliable optical microscopy modalities without being hardware experts. In this article we outline the demand and design of the MPX-microscope and present multiphoton imaging results from experiments in various configurations. There are no existing instruments on the market that are portable and combine easily switchable modes in one composite industry-ready device for life science, clinical, and pharmacological research.

Light-emitting diode (LED) illumination for fluorescence microscopy systems has come a long way since the turn of the century, when the LED sources available had low optical power and a limited range of wavelengths. While the benefits of LED technology were attractive, their limitations prevented large-scale adoption. Twenty years later, advances in the semi-conductor industry have eliminated many of those fundamental hurdles. Today, LED technology is rapidly replacing the lamps used in microscopy and fluorescence imaging, even for applications on the extreme ends of the light microscopy spectrum. This article describes the latest advances in illumination for fluorescence imaging, from near-UV to near-IR fluorophores. Case studies demonstrate the new X-Cite® NOVEM™ as successful replacements for traditional arc lamps in calcium imaging applications, producing equivalent results with the convenience of LEDs. For its usefulness to the microscopy community, the X-Cite NOVEM system was awarded the prestigious 2021 Microscopy Today Innovation Award.

Cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) is a powerful technique that can provide unprecedented insight into protein-protein interactions and molecular machinery in a near-native state. The adoption of cryo-ET by life science research groups is hampered by the challenges associated with cryo-ET sample preparation. The current sample preparation process has many steps at which ice contamination may occur to negatively affect the final sample and data quality. A survey was conducted to better understand the effects and impact of ice contamination to the cryo-ET outcome. Over 80 cryo-electron microscopy users worldwide participated in our survey. The results are presented in this article. We furthermore discussed the currently available solutions that can alleviate the ice contamination problems to increase the sample yield and cryo-ET data output.

Fourier ptychography is an emerging computational microscopy technique that can generate gigapixel-scale images of biological samples. With only the addition of a low-cost LED array to a standard digital microscope and a reconstruction algorithm, Fourier ptychography overcomes the fundamental trade-off between a microscope's resolution and field-of-view without any moving parts. This article is the first in a three-part series that aims to introduce the fundamentals of the technology to the broader microscopy community and beyond, using intuitive explanations.

Foldscope Instruments, Inc. creates and distributes low-cost, high-quality scientific tools to communities around the world to help advance education, research, and medical diagnostics. The Foldscope—a high-quality microscope created for less than a dollar in parts—was created in 2015. To date, the Foldscope has reached 1.6 million people worldwide in over 160 countries. A few notable uses for the Foldscope include identification of microscopic eggs of agricultural pests in India, creation of a catalog of the biodiversity of soil arthropods in the Amazon, detection of fake currency and medicine, following toxic blooms, detection of bacteria in water samples, and mapping of pollen diversity in a city landscape.

“A Focused Interest Group (FIG) is a group of not less than ten MSA members who have organized, with the approval of MSA Council, to promote a specific discipline relevant to microscopy or microanalysis.” – mission statement from the FIG guidelines.