#histological

Micro Cuts

All multicelular living beings are made up of layers of cells, including plants. Vegetal biology was not one of my favorite subjects in high school or college, but I always thought that the images of plants’ cross sections under the microscope were really beautiful and mesmerizing. In some cases, the cross sections look like nature is making its own mandalas. Histological sections are the main tool for the study of anatomical and histological characteristics of the plants. In order to study the internal structure of a plant, a compound microscope is required, with high magnification. A good cut (in the stem or root, for example) should be thin enough to allow light to pass through so we can see the different cells and structures.

When we study a plant’s structure, we can identify the different types of cells and how they are arranged. In a functional perspective, the microscopic observation allows to correlate the different internal structures of the plant with its functions. For example, we can verify possible adaptive tendencies of a plant with the different environments and also better understand the functionality of the physiological mechanisms of a plant. Additionally, we can verify similarities between groups of plants with certain degrees of kinship which help with the taxonomic positioning of those specimens.

There is a lot to say about this subject, but I believe we should just enjoy how beautiful nature can be on a microscopic level.

Su

An international team of researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Vanderbilt University, and Delft University of Technology has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) method that virtually stains images generated through imaging mass spectrometry (IMS). The research is published in the journal Science Advances. Summary Researchers have created an AI method to…