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Credit: C. L. Rieder and A. Khodjakov, Science 300, 91 (2003)
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Video-enhanced light microscopy allows dynamic complexes like the mitotic apparatus to be visualized in living cells. This movie [0.9 MB], from the review by C. L. Rieder and A. Khodjakov in the 4 April 2003 special issue of Science, shows time-lapse video light microscopy of a newt lung epithelial cell undergoing the transition between metaphase (when chromosomes align in the middle of the cell) and anaphase (during which chromosomes are pulled apart to opposite poles). Footage like this helped to define the fibers within the spindle -- microtubules -- that grow and shorten, thereby providing the mechanical framework for cell division.
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