80th anniversary of the CNRS

The BIC trough his national infrastructure France-Bio-Imaging is proud to announce that it will participate in the 80th anniversary of the CNRS.

The 25th of May the BIC will open his door to the public and will propose 5 different workshops to discover the world of the microscopy applied to neurosciences or different live samples. We will happy to welcome you and your family. If you want to know more about the 80th anniversary of the CNRS: http://80ans.cnrs.fr/

Mini-Workshop 1: How do we manipulate light to create image? We will see how light is manipulated to observe biological tissues. We will show the difference between white light sources and lasers, then we will observe the effects of lenses, prisms, mirrors and slits, which compose a microscope.

Mini-Workshop 2: Is it enough to see bigger to see better? Using a 3D printed laser projection microscope, we will attempt to visualize a sample placed in a drop of water, used as a magnifying lens. But is a liquid magnifying glass enough to visualize the inside of our cells? We will compare this “homemade” technology to a commercial microscopy system dedicated to “research” in order to answer the question.

Mini-Workshop 3: How does a microscope work? We will dismantle an optical microscope in order to visit discover what it consists of: lenses, mirrors, diaphragms… What is the purpose of each of these elements? How is the light sent to the sample? How is sample information collected? If possible, we will observe samples brought by the participants.

Mini-workshop 4: See neurons from far or very close! We will have the opportunity to acquire images of entire neurons, with all their extensions. Then we will see in more detail the shape of their spines, these small structures that allow them to communicate with each other.

Mini-workshop 5: See the living! We will have the opportunity to image living.

STED imaging of cultured neuron dendrite, Patrice Mascalchi & Julie Angibaud

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