Dundee University scientist wins Euro photo award

A STUNNING image of a cervical cancer cell in the process of cell division - taken by a Scottish scientist - has won the award for European picture of the year in a prestigious medical photographic competition.

The striking photograph was captured by Dr Markus Posch of Dundee University’s College of Life Sciences, using one of the world’s most advanced high resolution microscopes. And it has been named the European winner of GE Healthcare’s 2012 Cell Imaging Competition.

Dr Posch works with the OMX microscope at Dundee, which uses groundbreaking technology known as “super resolution microscopy.” This enables structures inside a cell, which play a crucial role in cell division to be seen more clearly than ever before- even though they are just 1000th of the thickness of a human hair.

Dr Posch explained: “The technology we are now able to use has vastly increased the power of microscopy to the point where we can now see things in the sort of detail that was never before possible.

“This has tremendous benefits for scientific and medical research as we can view cells in ever greater detail, giving us new understanding of how they work.”

Eric Roman, general manager of research at GE Healthcare Life Sciences, said: “This year’s winning images remind us of the cellular complexity behind disease and why the study of cells is so important. We were delighted to receive so many outstanding entries to the competition, which highlights how high-content and super-resolution cell imaging are helping scientists explore the universe of the cell, and so advance our understanding of so many life threatening and life-limiting diseases.”

Dundee University is one of the first academic institutions in the world to invest in the new imaging technology. Dr Posch’s work is being supported by the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance, a research pooling partnership between the universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews and Strathclyde

It was announced last week that the University of Dundee is to receive around £1million in new funding distributed by three of the UK’s research councils to boost the resolution revolution taking place in microscope technology.