News from NanoLab

Yesterday the new method paper by Ekvall et al. covering the nano-labelling and tracking of small aquatic organisms is published online in PLOS ONE. The paper is entitled “Three-dimensional tracking of small aquatic organisms using fluorescent nanoparticles” and covers the labelling using poly-L-lysine coated nanoparticles (quantum dots) as well as the video- and tracking system.  In the paper we combine biology, chemistry and physics and, by doing this, present a method that allows three-dimensional (3D) tracking of individual mm-sized aquatic organisms. The method is based on in-vivo labelling of the organisms with fluorescent nanoparticles, so-called quantum dots, and tracking of the organisms in 3D via the quantum-dot fluorescence using a synchronized multiple camera system. It allows for the efficient and simultaneous study of the behaviour of one as well as multiple individuals in large volumes of observation, thus enabling the study of behavioural interactions at the community scale. The method is non-perturbing – we demonstrate that the labelling is not affecting the behavioural response of the organisms – and is applicable over a wide range of taxa, including cladocerans as well as insects, suggesting that our methodological concept opens up for new research fields on individual behaviour of small animals. Hence, this offers opportunities to focus on important biological, ecological and behavioural questions never before possible to address. For the full version of the exciting paper - visit this link:

If you have not yet seen the NanoLAB descriptive YouTube video I recommend you to visit this link and have a look at how the labelling and system works!

/The NanoLab Team – Mikael, Giuseppe, Johan B and Lars-Anders