"With any new technology, what's exciting is that
Freeze and say cheese
To pinpoint key steps in the worms' development, Wolfgang Keil, a postdoctoral fellow who shares his time between the labs of Shaham and Siggia, wanted to follow patterns of cell division in C. elegans larvae. But the existing methods were tedious and could only capture worms in an unnatural state—glued to a microscope slide. To solve this, Keil and colleagues invented a small chamber that allows the worm to move around and eat freely, except during short intervals when it is being imaged with a microscope.
The circular chamber is surrounded by posts that form tiny channels—just big enough to allow food to flow in, but too small for the worm to escape. When it is time to keep the worm still for imaging, a collapsible ceiling gently lowers over it, and the animal is simultaneously pushed to the side of the chamber for a short time—just enough to take a crisp snapshot. The technique is described in a study published in Developmental Cell.
"Embryos are isolated from the environment by an egg-shell, but that's not how subsequent larval development works," says Keil, lead author of the study. "What's most exciting about this method is that it enables you to go beyond what's been possible before—to study a developing animal that's feeding, growing, and possibly interacting with the environment."
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