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Credit: Swedlow et al., Science 300, 100 (2003)
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Advances in technology and chemistry have helped live cell imaging to emerge as a valuable laboratory tool -- not just for harvesting qualitative information about the dynamics of complex cellular processes and the functions of proteins, lipids, and other biomolecules, but also for extracting quantitative data, such as volumes of organelles, signal intensities, and strength of molecular forces involved in cell movement, from digital images. This example, from the article by Swedlow et al. in Science's 4 April 2003 special issue, shows a dividing cell stained for DNA (blue), microtubules (green) and the aurora-B protein kinase (red). Quantitative analysis of such images can reveal, for example, defects in the separation of the genome during cell division, and the effects of specific inhibitors or expressed proteins.
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