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How does an Electron Microscopy (EM) facility come into being? For many established facilities it feels as though they have always existed, sewn into the fabric of institutes, departments and universities.

When I started on my journey into microscopy in 2020, the initial aim was to make a UV transmission microscope for my research into sunscreens (previously written about in Crowther, 2021). Very soon I found myself in need of something to help me determine the resolution of my microscope and this was where I was introduced to the wonderful world of diatoms.

Microscopy and biology have always been intimately linked together. One of the driving forces for the development of the very earliest microscopes was our curiosity of the basis of life and our desire to understand it.

As the celebrated marine biologist and writer Rachel Carson once said, in every grain of sand there is the story of the earth.

Since its inception, fluorescence imaging has revolutionised biological research, providing an invaluable tool for scientists to explore and visualise cellular structures and processes at a microscopic scale.

Scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) are popular imaging tools across a wide range of research and industrial applications, enabling clear view at nanometre scales due to their unparalleled magnification capabilities.

The cytoskeleton is anchored to the nucleus (specifically, the nuclear lamina) via the versatile connectors collectively named as the LINC complex.

Eukaryotic cells have a cytoskeletal structure which helps to maintain shape and organise components of the cell.

Fluorescence microscopy is an essential tool in cell biology as it allows scientists to look at what is inside of a cell and easily see the organisation of organelle by labelling different organelles selectively.

Supported by an RMS Summer Studentship award, I spent time in the lab of Professor Duncan Graham at the University of Strathclyde to study the uptake and distribution of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (Btk) inhibitors, ibrutinib, acalabrutinib and ibrutinib-yne using a combination of Raman and stimulated Raman scattering microscopy.

Imaging living cell samples is challenging due to the meniscus formed by immersing liquid at container walls.