About a decade after the idea began, researchers published a study in Nature Methods describing Ca2+ BioLuminescence Activity Monitor, or CaBLAM. Development of the molecule that became CaBLAM was led by Nathan Shaner at the University of California, San Diego. The work was carried out at the Bioluminescence Hub, which launched at Brown University in 2017 with a major National Science Foundation grant.
CaBLAM can capture single-cell and subcellular activity at high speeds and it works well in mice and zebrafish. Unlike common fluorescence methods, it does not require shining external light into the brain, so it avoids cell damage and photobleaching and allows longer recordings.
At least 34 researchers from partner institutions, including Brown, Central Michigan University, UC San Diego, UCLA and New York University, contributed. Funding included support from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.
Difficult words
- molecule — small biological structure made of atoms
- subcellular — located inside a cell, below whole cell level
- fluorescence — light given by a material after light exposure
- photobleaching — loss of light signal from a material over time
- funding — money or support for a project or research
- contribute — give money, work, or help to a projectcontributed
- capture — record or take an image or data quickly
- recording — a stored session of sound, image, or datarecordings
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- How could avoiding external light during recordings help animals in research? Give one or two reasons.
- Why is it useful that many researchers from different institutions contributed to this project?
- If you were a scientist, how might longer recordings change your experiments? Describe one possible effect.
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