The 2018 correlative microscopy techniques roadmap

Area of Science:

• Life Sciences
• Biomedical Research
• Microscopy

Background:

• Microscopy advancements have driven life science discoveries, with diverse techniques like electron microscopy and fluorescence microscopy available.
• No single microscopy method can simultaneously capture all necessary data (e.g., structure, dynamics, chemical signals) for complex biological investigations like cell development.
• Combining different microscopy readouts from the same sample (correlative microscopy) is crucial for understanding structure-function relationships.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a comprehensive overview of correlative microscopy techniques.
• To address the challenges and uncertainties in applying correlative approaches for biological research.
• To guide the selection of optimal strategies and workflows for correlative experiments.

Main Methods:

• Review and synthesis of current correlative microscopy techniques.
• Discussion of limitations of individual microscopy methods (e.g., electron microscopy, fluorescence microscopy).
• Exploration of combined and correlated readouts from the same specimen.

Main Results:

• Correlative microscopy offers a powerful solution to the limitations of single imaging techniques.
• Simultaneous acquisition of multi-parametric data (structure, dynamics, signals) is achievable.
• New avenues are opened for understanding complex biological processes and structure-function relations.

Conclusions:

• Correlative microscopy is a rapidly developing field with significant potential in biomedical research.
• Addressing challenges in sample preparation, instrument stability, and data analysis is key to successful implementation.
• Further exploration of correlative approaches is needed to fully realize their capabilities.