Welcome! ::. Sigma Xi McGill-Montreal Chapter .::

updated: 8 April 2008

April 2008

Prof. Paul Wiseman
Watching the choreography of life.. modern microscopy imaging of living cells and neurons
Friday, 18 April 2008
Public Lecture: 6:00 P.M.
McCord Museum
_____________________________
Annual Banquet: 7:30 P.M.
Le Caveau

March 2008

Prof. Masad Damha
Gene Silencing through the use of synthetic DNA and RNA: the next wave of "magic bullets"?
Monday, 31 March 2008
Public Lecture: 6:00 P.M.
McGill University
Otto Maass Chemistry Building
Room 10
_____________________________
Council Meeting: 4:30 P.M.
Ruttan Room
_____________________________
Member Reception: 5:30 P.M.
(Wine and Cheese)
Ruthan Room

February 2008

Prof. Jean Barette
From Quarks to Galaxies: How our Universe was Formed
Monday, 25 February 2008
Public Lecture: 6:00 P.M.
McGill University
Otto Maass Chemistry Building
Room 10
_____________________________
Council Meeting: 4:30 P.M.
Ruttan Room
_____________________________
Member Reception: 5:30 P.M.
(Wine and Cheese)
Ruthan Room

January 2008

Prof. David Green
Science vs. Policy in the Protection of Canadian Endangered Species
Monday, 28 January 2008
Public Lecture: 6:00 P.M.
McGill University
Otto Maass Chemistry Building
Room 10
_____________________________
Council Meeting: 4:30 P.M.
Ruttan Room
_____________________________
Member Reception: 5:30 P.M.
(Wine and Cheese)
Ruthan Room

December 2007

Sigma Xi
Party de Noël
et Lecture spéciale

Prof. M.A. Whitehead
A Roller Coaster Survey of the
History of Sigma Xi and
The McGill Chapter

Monday, 17 December 2007
Université McGill
Otto Maass Chemistry, Room 10
6:00 P.M.

Followed by the Party!!!
Ruttan Room 7:15 P.M.

November 2007

This month's lecture:

Prof. Alejandro Rey
Modeling Liquid Crystal materials and
processes in Biological Systems

Monday, 19 November 2007
Public Lecture: 6:00 P.M.
McGill University
Macdonald-Harrington Building
Room G-10
_____________________________
Council Meeting: 4:30 P.M.
Ruttan Room
_____________________________
Member Reception: 5:30 P.M.
(Wine and Cheese)
Ruthan Room

October 2007

This month's lecture:

Prof. Andrew Kirk
Metamaterials and Negative Refraction:
Is Harry Potter's Invisibility Coat Possible?

Monday, 29 October 2007
Public Lecture: 6:00 P.M.
McGill University
Otto Maass Chemistry, Room 10
_____________________________
Council Meeting: 4:30 P.M.
Ruttan Room
_____________________________
Member Reception: 5:30 P.M.
(Wine and Cheese)
Ruthan Room

September 2007

You are cordially invited to our Third Entin lecture:

Prof. Liam Durcan
On Narrative: Fiction and the Brain

Monday, 24 September 2007
Public Lecture: 6:00 P.M.
McGill University
Macdonald Harrington Building
Room G-10
_____________________________
Council Meeting: 4:30 P.M.
Ruttan Room
_____________________________
Member Reception: 5:30 P.M.
Ruthan Room

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April 2008

Friday 18th April 2008

Prof. Paul Wiseman

PDF Poster

BANQUET DETAILS,

Watching the choreography of life...modern microscopy imaging of living cells and neurons

The optical microscope has played a central role in the development of our modern understanding of the biological cell starting with the father of optical microscopy, Anton van Leeuwenhoek, to the seminal work of Robert Hooke who coined the term “cell”, and the prescient work of Ramon Cajal in neuroscience. Light microscopy provided early scientists with a vista on the dynamic living world inside cells. Currently, there is a great deal of interest in being able to optically resolve the choreography of the dynamic dance of life inside cells down to the level of individual macromolecules. However, there is a limit in the spatial resolution obtainable by optical microscopy imaging due to the diffraction properties of light. In this seminar, I will describe a number of modern light microscopy approaches for imaging cells and neurons, including confocal laser-scanning microscopy, nonlinear microscopy and total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy. I will describe applications of these methods for imaging living cells and neurons with a focus on trying to understand the mechanisms these cells use to actively migrate. I will describe two approaches for circumventing the conventional resolution limit set by the diffraction of light. In one case, I will describe how we use fluctuations in the light detected in images to map transport of proteins inside living cells. As well, I will highlight how we can track the movement of macromolecules with a precision far below the optical diffraction limit by using single molecule methods in combination with optical microscopy.