“You can observe a lot by just watching.”
In Vivo Imaging
To understand organ-scale cell dynamics, we need to watch cells in their native organ environment. In vivo time-lapse imaging reveals cell behaviors that are undetectable in fixed tissues and uncovers the dynamics that lead to a particular endpoint. We pioneered two, complementary methodologies for wide-field, micron-resolution imaging of organs in live Drosophila adults.
Windowmount
Windowmount (Martin et al., eLife 2018) enables continuous, 4D imaging up to 18 hours through a window cut in the animal’s abdomen.
Video Tutorial for Windowmount feeder tubes. Narrator: Erin Sanders, Ph.D.
Bellymount
Bellymount (Koyama et al., PLOS Biology 2020) captures 3D snapshots of the animal’s entire abdomen non-invasively, allowing repeated imaging of the same animal over many days.