Stony Brook University Thinc Facility

06/02/2022

The Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) is used to view thin specimen, commonly coated in materials such as resin, through which a concentrated beam of electrons can pass through and generate a projection image. The TEM employs an electromagnetic lens of which a concentrated beam of electrons is able to go through to project a highly-magnified image. What is very notable about the TEM is that the specimen must be very thin for the beam of electron to pe*****te. Thus, a very tedious preparation of the sample must be done in which the sample's chemical structure must be presevered through a chemical solution, dehydrated to remove all the water, and preserved in a plastic structure, commonly resin.

The TEM was easily the most intimidating microscope that I had to use thus far. Even inseting the sample was a tedious process (you must first push the sample in and turn it clockwise slowly before pushing it in further) but even before this, you had to make sure the vacuum seal was maintained. When I first began using the TEM, I approached it with musch hesitance as I was intimadted by the number of dials and the expertise needed to manage this instrument. I often had to be reminded of the instrument procedures and asked many questions during this phase to make sure each procedure I performed was correct. After a few uses of the TEM, I was able to start up the instrument by myself and identify cell structures in the specimen easily! I am so proud of my progress and my confidence that I have gained and I have ThINC to thank!

What specimen would you look at under the TEM?

06/01/2022

On behalf of ThINC Lab, we hope you had a great Memorial Day Weekend!

05/18/2022

Earlier in the semester, I've had the great opportunity of answering some questions about my experience with ThINC thus far for an article. Enjoy this excerpt from the article and read the rest at https://buff.ly/3PnSf4P

05/17/2022

After spending a few days with the Scanning Electron Microscope, we moved on to the Confocal Microscope. One of the immediate differences I noticed between the two instruments is that the Confocal Microscope is very colorful compared to the SEM’s monochromatic images. Fluorescent dyes can be used to label parts of a sample. Under the Confocal Microscope, we viewed a sample of replace with the type of cellsbiological cells. The actin filaments in the cell wall were fluorescentlyflourescently dyed red and the nucleus was fluorescently dyed green. Another difference that I noticed between the Scanning Electron Microscope and the Confocal Microscope is that the Confocal provides a further viewing of the sample in the Z-plane whereas the Scanning Electron microscope only allows viewing of a sample’s surface. The Confocal microscope creates a 3D image of the sample provided, and even allows you to switch between the many layers of the sample it quantifies through Z-stacking. Through the 3-D function, I was able to see a representative 3-dimensional image of the cells sampled on the slide, the scale bar here was in micrometres, showing the magnification power of the confocal microscope.

The Confocal Microscope quickly became my favorite instrument I have learned about thus far. It caused me to actively recall my knowledge of Physics and Biology as I learned about wavelengths, excitation/emission, and how fluorescent dyes can be used in biological samples. What samples would you look at under the Confocal Micrscope?

05/16/2022

The Scanning Electron Microscope is the first instrument that I was able to observe and learned to operate under Dr. Simon Chaeng. First Simon showed me how to prepare a sample to be examined, the first sample that we examined was a mouse cornea! After preparation and creating a vacuum within the SEM, the sample was ready to be transferred into the sample chamber. Now we were able to turn on the electron gun and begin viewing the sample!

We first used the Secondary Electron Detector or SED detector. With this detector, after increasing magnification and focus, and refining the image using the stigmator and wobble k***s, I was able to see a very detailed and magnified image of the mouse cornea. The scale bar represented 200 μm! And yet, the image was so clear and detailed. The SED detector allows you to see the topography of the sample, the sample that we used was smaller than my finger tip, and yet the SEM allowed me to see the bumps, grooves, and curvature of the cornea so finely. I was amazed!

What sample would you look at under the Scanning Electron Microscope?

02/07/2022

Hello! My name is Kayla Barnes and I am a Senior majoring in Biology here at Stony Brook University! I am very excited to join as a new intern. During the ThINC JEDI internship, I will be working both in the lab under Dr. Simon Chang and developing my science communication skills as I post on ThINC’s social media. After my first few weeks here at ThINC, I am delightfully overwhelmed with all that I have learned and I can’t wait to share it all with you! I hope you stay tuned to follow me along on this journey as I intern here at ThINC.

10/06/2021

Join to the Weeklong Celebration of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day with the Energy Department!



Stony Brook University, Stony Brook Chemistry Department, Stony Brook Medicine, Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center, College of Engineering & Applied Sciences at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook University College of Arts and Sciences

October 8, chosen as Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day for hydrogen's atomic weight of 1.008, marks a symbolic opportunity every year to celebrate hydrogen and to talk about the role it can play as we transition to a cleaner and more equitable energy future.

10/06/2021

Deadline extended! Submit your entries now to “Click!” : ThINC’s 2nd Sci-Art Photo Contest: https://lnkd.in/ek-rzGRi

Stony Brook University, Stony Brook Chemistry Department, Stony Brook Medicine, Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center, College of Engineering & Applied Sciences at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook University College of Arts and Sciences

09/24/2021

1 week left! Submit your entries now to “Click!” : ThINC’s 2nd Sci-Art Photo Contest before 10/01:

Submit your entry here: https://lnkd.in/ek-rzGRi


Stony Brook University, Stony Brook Chemistry Department, Stony Brook Medicine, Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center, College of Engineering & Applied Sciences at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook University College of Arts and Sciences

09/08/2021

🤩🤩🤩[Drum rolls...]
“Click!” : ThINC’s 2nd Sci-Art Photo Contest is now live!!!!!

Share the art of your science and tell the world stories through your data! Winners will be featured on ThINC website, all ThINC social media, AERTC social media, and our 2022 calendar!

Please submit your entries at the link below before 10/01/2021:
https://lnkd.in/dG5ag3U9



Stony Brook University, Stony Brook Chemistry Department, Stony Brook Medicine, Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center, College of Engineering & Applied Sciences at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook University College of Arts and Sciences

07/28/2021

Are you looking to image a fluorescent labeled sample? In today's series, we'd like to introduce our TCS SP8X Upright Confocal Microscope.

Our Leica Confocal Microscope is equipped with White Light Laser (WLL 470-670nm) and Laser UV 405nmDMOD flexible. The white light laser source perfectly matches the wavelength of any fluorophore. Up to eight excitation lines can be used – simultaneously. By tuning both excitation and detection, complete excitation emission spectra can be acquired.
With this spectral information, any dye can be optimally excited with minimum cross-excitation and specimen damage.

This Confocal image was taken on Convallaria Rhizome (Lily of the Valley). Imaging curtesy to Dr. Simon Chang.

Feel free to leave us a message, comment, or reach out to ThINC@stonybrook.edu for more details. We are here to assist you collecting high quality and intriguing data to promote your research!



Stony Brook University, Stony Brook Chemistry Department, Stony Brook Medicine, Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center, College of Engineering & Applied Sciences at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook University College of Arts and Sciences

07/26/2021

Is your research related to ? In today's series, we'd like to introduce Cryo-TEM imaging with our Jem 1400 Transmission Electron Microscope ( ).

houses the Thermal Fisher Vitrobot, which enables vitrification that forms an amorphous solid that does little to no damage to the sample structure. Vitrification is a critical technique for cellular and structural biology research where samples are cooled so rapidly that the surrounding water molecules do not have time to crystallize. We are also equipped with the Gatan Gat-626 TEM specimen cryo-transfer holder for cryotomography imaging.

The Cryo-TEM image was a taken on a virus. The virus size and structure details were clearly captured. Imaging curtesy to Dr. Simon Chang.

Feel free to leave us a message, comment, or reach out to ThINC@stonybrook.edu for more details. We are here to assist you collecting high quality and intriguing data to promote your research!



Stony Brook University, Stony Brook Chemistry Department, Stony Brook Medicine, Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center, College of Engineering & Applied Sciences at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook University College of Arts and Sciences