UL Faculty of Electrical Engineering presents new superresolution microscope

The Laboratory of Biocybernetics today presented a new super-resolution microscope, which was purchased with the co-financing of ARIS (50%), UL (25%) and UL FE (25%). This is the largest purchase of a single piece of equipment in the history of the University of Ljubljana, with which researchers will be able to observe the processes in cells even more closely.

Superior optical resolution

The Zeiss Elyra 7 Lattice SIM² microscope enables the observation of living biological cells and processes in them at a resolution of 60 nm, and the observation of fixed preparations with biological cells up to a resolution of 25 nm. These methods belong to the set of methods of superresolution optical microscopy, which have been developed over the past two decades and enable optical resolutions significantly below the diffraction limit of 250 nm, and this breakthrough has won the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to three pioneers in the field – Prof. Dr. Eric Betzig of the Howard Hughes Institute (USA), Prof. Dr. Stefan Hell from the Max Planck Institute in Göttingen (Germany) and Prof. Dr. William Moerner of Stanford University (USA) – the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

"The state-of-the-art optical microscope for observing living biological cells is a state-of-the-art research infrastructure that has enriched the researchers of the Cybernetics Laboratory and all participants with indispensable research equipment for further breakthrough stories in the field of electroporation. At the same time, the microscope demonstrates how widely interdisciplinary research is at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering," stressed the Dean of the UL FE Prof. Dr. Marko Topič.

In 2020–2023, the participants visited completely renovated and expanded laboratory premises and learned about the operation and capabilities of the new microscope. The presentation was also attended by the Vice-Rector of the University of Ljubljana for Research and Development Prof. Dr. Anton Ramšak, who said: "I am delighted that the Faculty of Electrical Engineering has obtained co-financing for state-of-the-art research equipment in the ARIS tender, which will strengthen the competitiveness of the Laboratory of Biocybernetics in the field of electroporation and other processes in cells."