A microscope that can visualise heart development in real time

Funding towards a multiphoton confocal microscope

The BHF is helping researchers at University College London provide world-leading facilities for heart research by contributing £80,000 towards a new state-of-the-art microscope. Researchers use high quality microscopes to visualise cells and tissues in minute detail. But rather than taking frequent still images, researchers now need to study tissues and organisms in real time. Professor Peter Scambler from University College London (UCL) is known throughout the world for his work on birth defects. He studies why a variety of birth defects arise, including those in the heart and circulatory system. The new confocal-based live imaging microscope (which costs £400,000 in total) will be used by Professor Scambler and many other researchers at UCL to study developing organisms in real time. It will be used to study heart and blood vessel development, including identifying factors required for the coronary arteries to form correctly, and testing biomaterials and new technologies such as stem cells to replace damaged tissue and organs (regenerative medicine). It will also boost research into birth defects of other systems, such as the brain and spinal cord. The equipment will provide a much needed additional facility for researchers to use, and the images researchers acquire will be much better quality. The new microscope will substantially enhance teaching and training at UCL and it will be used to train junior researchers, ensuring that the next generation of scientists have expertise in cardiovascular science.