Mon Sep 09 15:44:04 UTC 2024: ## NIST Develops New Method to Image Biomolecules in Living Cells with Infrared Light

**Gaithersburg, MD** – Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have made a breakthrough in the field of biomolecule imaging, developing a new method to capture clear images of biomolecules inside living cells using infrared (IR) light. This technique, published in *Analytical Chemistry*, overcomes the challenge of water absorption that previously hindered IR-based imaging.

“Water absorbs infrared radiation very strongly, masking the signals from other molecules,” explained NIST chemist Young Jong Lee, the lead developer of the new method. “Our technique, called solvent absorption compensation (SAC), uses a special optical element to compensate for this water absorption, revealing the protein signals.”

The SAC-IR method is label-free, meaning it doesn’t require dyes or fluorescent markers that can harm cells and produce inconsistent results. This allows researchers to measure the absolute mass of proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and carbohydrates within a single cell, providing a more accurate and consistent picture of cellular activity.

This innovation holds significant potential for advancing various fields:

* **Drug Development:** The method can be used to analyze the effects of drugs on cells, measuring the concentrations of key biomolecules to assess drug potency and efficacy.
* **Cancer Cell Therapy:** By assessing biomolecular changes in immune cells engineered to target cancer, researchers can better evaluate their safety and effectiveness.
* **Biomanufacturing:** Understanding the changes in biomolecules during cell division can improve biomanufacturing processes and cell therapy development.

“We hope to develop the technique further to measure other key biomolecules like DNA and RNA with even greater accuracy,” said Lee. “The method could also help answer fundamental questions in cell biology, such as what biomolecular signatures correspond to cell viability.”

This breakthrough in IR imaging offers a powerful new tool for scientists to observe and understand cellular processes at a molecular level, accelerating research in various fields and ultimately leading to more effective drug therapies, improved cell therapies, and more precise biomanufacturing processes.

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