Super Resolution Pioneer Opened Microscience 2010

Dr Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz (NIH, US), a pioneer of super resolution imaging, gave the opening Plenary Lecture at Microscience 2010 in London’s docklands on Tuesday 29th June 2010. Dr Lippincott-Schwartz is a leader in the use of green fluorescent protein technology to study the function of living cells by light microscopy. This has revolutionised our understanding of cellular function and dynamics. Recently she has developed the use of photoactivation localisation microscopy – known as PALM - that for the first time permits the observation of the distribution of individual molecules in cells by light microscopy.

Dr Lippincott-Schwartz was visiting the UK to receive the Pearse Prize – the Royal Microscopical Society’s highest award for histochemistry. Former recipients include Dr Osamu Shimomura and Dr Roger Tsien, who both went on to receive the Nobel Prize for chemistry. Dr Lippincott-Schwartz’s research on using the green fluorescent protein builds on the work of Shimomura and Tsien. ILM.