Professor John Girkin, Department of Physics, Durham University
Monday 25th November 2013, 4.00 p.m., Ingram Lecture Theatre
Since its invention around 400 years ago optical microscopy has played a crucial role in biology, as observation is the key component of all science. In many cases the ultimate test is to observe sub-cellular events in vivo and this clearly creates challenges; namely sample movement and the distortion of the images as one observes ever more deeply within the sample. This presentation will explore the recent advances in imaging methods to overcome these issues both within plants and live Zebrafish. Work will be presented in which live beating Zebrafish hearts have been imaged in real time with micron resolution through novel methods of optical gating. Using a single plane illumination microscope combined with adaptive optics (more normally used in optical telescopes) we have been able to image at depth within a range of live samples with both high spatial and temporal resolution. Work using optical tweezers and novel high-speed cameras to measure the local rheology (viscosity) within live cells and inter-cellular forces will also be shown. Recent results will be discussed and the potential application of the methods to sub-diffraction microscopy will be examined in detail indicating where the next advances in optical microscopy may come from.
Professor Girkin is Professor of Biophysics at Durham University and Director of the Biophysical Sciences Institute in Durham. He moved to Durham in 2009 to take up this role having previously founded the Centre for Biophotonics at Strathclyde University, Glasgow where he was one of the first leaders at the Institute of Photonics. Originally trained as a physicist at Oxford and with a PhD from Southampton University (in Laser Spectroscopy of Atomic Hydrogen) he worked for ten years in industry including developing the world’s first diode laser retinal photocoagulator and diode pumped Nd:Yag laser. His research focuses on the development of novel optical instrumentation to help solve challenges within the life science. This work has ranged from pioneering the use of adaptive optics in microscopy, building a desk-top genotyping device (identifying specific SNPs inside 14 minutes from saliva), micro-fluidic chemical monitoring, ophthalmic drug delivery through to early dental diagnosis which is currently being explored for commercialisation.