Laser Microdissection group

Head: Stanisław Chwirot

The laser microdissection system is incorporated into Olympus inverted microscope making the whole set-up useful for a broad range of applications.
Two main research programs initiated last year in the Laboratory are of a very different character:

• Separation of cancer cells expressing genes of interest form inhomogeneous tumor tissues. The cells of interest are labeled using immunohistochemical or in situ hybridization techniques making them detectable due a proper visualization of the reaction complexes. The main aim of the project is to optimize the technique for tissue material of interest to ensure high specificity and yielding sufficient amount of the cells for further investigations with methods of molecular biology. This interdisciplinary project has been carried out in collaboration with Interdisciplinary Group of Optical Methods of Cancer Detection, NCU. Another similar project involving plant tissues will be started on a condition of successful application for funding by a group from Institute of Biology, NCU.
• Application of the laser cut system for producing structured surfaces capable of acting as optical metamaterials. First experiments aim at observation of a so-called trapped rainbow phenomenon in an adiabatically changing optical waveguide with idea of future application of the effect in the field of spectroscopy on a chip.