Imagine feeding a mouse and then watching where its cells use the nutrients, or seeing how parts of a kidney cell respond to stress.
Such detailed images are now possible using a technology called multiple isotope imaging mass spectroscopy, says Claude Lechene at Harvard University. An ion beam is fired at a biological sample, ripping a few atoms off its surface and ionising some of them in the process. These ions are then identified by a mass spectrometer, a device that sorts atoms by their weight and charge.
This builds a very finely detailed picture of the contents of a…
