ypically, to view super small objects like molecules, the samples must first be dipped in a chemical preservative bath of death that keeps all parts entirely locked in place and thus viewable via very sophisticated tech such as X-ray devices and electron microscopes. The problem, of course, is that those molecules don't behave the same in death as they do in life, so while our current views of life at the nanoscale level are extremely detailed, they're technically speaking views of death, or at the very least, life frozen.
Now scientists at the University of Göttingen in Germany say that, using a new approach with one of the world's most sophisticated X-ray machines, the Petra III, they've been able to view -- however briefly -- actual living cells in their natural environment.
Reporting in the journal Physical Review Letters, the researchers say they grew cancer cells from the adrenal cortex on a silicon nitrate substance that is nearly transparent to X-rays. They then fed those cells nutrients and pumped away their metabolic products so that they could keep the cells alive in as close to a natural environment as possible while still being viewable by the higher-energy (aka "hard" X-ray) Petra III. While lower-energy "soft" X-rays can already image living cells, the resolution isn't as good.
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