Excited about light
Were you to walk into the Training Lab at MDI Biological Laboratory this week, you probably wouldn’t recognize the scene: leading manufacturers such as Nikon and Leica have brought the latest in computer-aided microscopes and analysis tools for imaging very small cells in living and non-living systems to our campus. After a two-year hiatus, we’re…
Continue ReadingWill CRISPR/Cas9 be the Catalyst that Revolutionizes Human Health?
Associate professor, Dustin Updike, Ph.D., is internationally recognized for using CRISPR/Cas9 in his research. CRISPR/Cas9 is a gene-editing technology revolutionizing scientific research and experimental therapies in human health. A genome, the term used to describe all of an organism’s DNA as a whole, is like a blueprint laying out the directions for an organism’s body…
Continue ReadingMDIBL Welcomes Future Biotech Leaders to Campus
The Roux Institute, located in Portland, ME, is a division of Northeastern University that specializes in educating graduate level students in advanced technologies for a changing world. Launched in 2020 in conjunction with prominent tech entrepreneur David Roux, the Roux Institute and the larger Northeastern network aim to create graduates who are ready for, and…
Continue ReadingTake a Closer Look: Microscopy at MDIBL
Over the last few years, the MDI Biological Laboratory has heavily invested in the LMF, primarily with the with support of the Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) grant. INBRE, which aims to build research capacity in states that have historically received lower levels of funding, is a collaborative network of Maine educational…
Continue ReadingShaping Maine’s Scientific Future
Earlier this month, MDI Biological Laboratory’s President, Dr. Hermann Haller, addressed those attending Eggs & Issues, the Portland (Maine) Chamber of Commerce’s premier breakfast event. As guest speaker, Dr Haller reflected on shaping the scientific future of our beautiful state, and the hard work that MDIBL is engaging in to create world-class education and training opportunities…
Continue ReadingVisiting Scientist Brett Keiper, Ph.D.: Taking the Time for Creative Inspiration
Everyone is familiar with bursts of creative inspiration in which ideas are teeming, connections between disparate subjects are made and solutions to seemingly intractable problems are revealed. But it’s rare for such moments to come out of the blue. Often, they are fostered by an inspirational setting, a culture of knowledge-sharing and the time to…
Continue ReadingThe Beauty of Science
Marko Pende, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in the Murawala lab, was awarded an honorable mention in the 2021 international ZEISS Microscopy Image Contest for his image, called “Axolotl Soup.” It shows live imaging of different cell populations labelled with fluorescent transgenic reporter signals in juvenile axolotls. Microscopy is often the place where the boundaries between…
Continue ReadingBetter Imaging Makes for Better Understanding
After completing his doctorate, Bonnet continued honing his live image microscopy skills at the Biotechnology Center (BIOTECH) at Technische Universität Dresden in Germany before joining MDIBL in mid-2019. In the 2 years since, Bonnet has driven the improvement and growth of the LMF, the focus always being getting the faculty what they need to do…
Continue ReadingNew Tools Enable Cutting Edge Scientific Advances
In addition to new ways of viewing a living cell, we have also invested in new technologies that provide unprecedented ways to characterize all of the different cell types and cell states that are involved in the process of cell development, during the evolution of a disease state, and during regeneration after injury. Known as…
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