In recent years, substantial advances have been made in microscopy techniques, enabling biologists to understand the details of cellular structure and dynamics at a level never before possible. In a new edition of the popular laboratory manual Live Cell Imaging, the latest approaches join a large collection of established techniques—producing the most comprehensive and up-to-date source of methods for imaging live cells and organisms currently available.

Just released by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, the volume was edited by Robert D. Goldman (Feinberg School of Medicine Northwestern University), Jason Swedlow (The University of Dundee), and David L. Spector (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), all leading cell biologists and experts in microscopy methods. It contains 16 new chapters and 21 updated chapters, all written by authorities in the field.

"Each chapter is written in a fashion that is extremely useful for both those who have never used live cell imaging in their research programs, as well as for the more expert microscopist," write the editors in the book's preface. "In addition, this book provides an excellent reference for students interested in learning about the ways in which live cell imaging can be used to extract important functional information from cells or organisms that cannot be obtained by using other more traditional biochemical, molecular, or genetic methodologies."

Live Cell Imaging is divided into two sections: The first covers principles and fundamental issues of detection and imaging, and the second provides detailed protocols for imaging live systems. The chapters discuss fluorescent protein spectral variants, their expression in live cells, and microscopy approaches used in conjunction with them. Topics unique to the new edition include advances in digital scanned laser light sheet fluorescence microscopy, structured illumination microscopy and other 3D approaches, as well as imaging in single cells in animals and plants. New analytical options include live high-throughput/high-content screening in mammalian cells and computational analysis of live cell data. Both hands-on protocols and background material are provided. In addition, the book's full-color images and the movies on an accompanying website (www.cshprotocols.org/livecellimaging) display the power of recent advances in technical imaging of living cells.

About the book: Live Cell Imaging: A Laboratory Manual, Second Edition (© 2010 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press) was edited by Robert D. Goldman (Feinberg School of Medicine Northwestern University), Jason Swedlow (The University of Dundee), and David L. Spector (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory). It is 736 pp. in length (illus., appendix, index) and is available in paperback (ISBN 978-087969893-5) and hardcover (ISBN 978-087969892-8). For a complete table of contents and additional information, please see http://www.cshlpress.com/link/livecell2p.htm.

Source: Medical News Today