GERMAN SCIENCE WEEKLY HIGHLIGHT -11

The triangle in the picture is a microscope, and the little strands that look like strings – well, they're DNA, perhaps the single most important substance in your body for making you exactly who you are. You'd probably want to know, then, what your DNA looks like for real. Well, here it is.

Those are one set of images, anyway. The beautiful colours you see are produced by something called "Fluorescence Microscopy". You probably already know what a fluorescent light is: it glows in a special way. But not just on your ceiling. When you put a fluorescent dye on a biological structure – for example, a molecule of DNA – you can see all kinds of unique structures.

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry have found a fabulous new way to use fluorescent dyes – and not just for seeing DNA, but lots of different cells in your body. Click below and Dr. Reinhard Guckenberger will tell you how.

The German Science Weekly Highlight is on a one-month vacation! Click on the link below and enjoy the previous editions. Then get ready for the latest highlights again starting mid-December.