Gentle chemical glow helps scientists capture sharper images of living cells

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We reach for brighter, better lighting for sharper pictures, whether we're photographing a puppy or a microscopic cell. In most cases, the light comes from outside the object being photographed. A recent study explored a different approach, using the cells' own chemical glow to illuminate their internal structures. This new experimental framework, called REID, lets microscopes capture super-sharp, high-resolution details of cell structures by bypassing the need for harsh external lasers that can sometimes damage the cells being imaged.