Researchers in Sydney Blaze ahead with world-leading microscope technology

The world’s first system for studying the cell biology of living microorganisms at super-resolution has been installed at the University of Technology, Sydney, promising new insights into the behaviour of infectious diseases.

The Microbial Imaging Facility (MIF) at UTS is the world’s first commercial site for the next-generation DeltaVision OMX Blaze super resolution imaging system - a device capable of capturing real-time multiple colour images of interactions between microorganisms and living cells.

Its installation in the Microbial Imaging Facility (MIF) of UTS’s i3 Institute has been made possible by a $400,000 joint investment with NSW Trade & Investment’s Office for Science and Research, with access to its groundbreaking capabilities to be offered to scientists and research organisations in Sydney and further afield.

Professor Ian Charles, Director of the i3 Institute, said UTS was playing a pioneering role in providing the new microscopy technology in Australia and internationally, both with the predecessor OMX 3D SIM device and the new OMX Blaze. Both systems were developed and manufactured in the US by Applied Precision, a GE Healthcare Company.

“This new imaging platform is truly amazing. We are at the forefront of being able to actually see infectious disease processes at submicron level resolution, in living cells,” Professor Charles said.

“This will enable research aimed at better understanding how microorganisms such as malaria, bacteria and viruses cause infection and has the potential to help develop treatments for life-threatening diseases.”

Aside from UTS research in the areas of infectious diseases and biofilms, the MIF also has collaborative research programs with a number of universities and laboratories in Australia and overseas. Earlier this year, scientists from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and UTS published data that captured malaria parasites in the act of invading red blood cells.