• Question: what made you want to explore the use of microscopes?

    Asked by emmawoods to Rachael on 13 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Rachael Ward

      Rachael Ward answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      Hi Emma
      Good question. I think its because I like looking at things that can only be seen at a really high magnification. The worms I use are smaller than a grain of rice and can barely been seen with the naked eye. So I put them under a light microscope to see them better. But then I may have a different question and want to see the neurons in more detail so I might label them with a fluorescent protein and look at them under a fluorescent microscope so they ‘glow’. This might lead to more questions when I want to look at whats INSIDE the neuron so then I need even greater magnification so they I’ll use an electron microscope. We can see tiny structures, hundreds of times less than a millimenter long using elecron microscopy – its amazing.

      I have put some pictures taken on light and electron microscopes on my profile if you are interested.

      I hope this answers your question!

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