University secures quarter of a million pounds for pioneering X-ray microscopy project

A Portsmouth project to make incredibly detailed three-dimensional images of plants and animal tissues, using the only lab-based X-ray machine of its kind in the world, has won £250k in funding. 

The equipment based at the University of Portsmouth’s Future Technology Centre (FTC) is already at the forefront of X-ray microscopy development, bolstered by the leadership and expertise of Dr Charles Wood, Senior Scientific Officer.

Whether it’s making detailed images of 99 million-year-old dinosaur bones, non-destructively scanning delicate and valuable historical artefacts, or examining intricate aerospace components critical to mission success, the existing X-ray equipment places the FTC within the top UK-based X-ray labs in terms of capability. 

However, the equipment will now be used to explore a range of biological soft materials using a new lab-based X-ray imaging technique, capable of delivering sub-micron resolution while cryogenically freezing samples during scans. 

Project Lead, Dr Charles Wood said: “This technology allows soft biological materials to be held in a more native state, a crucial element for imaging. This new funding will allow us to take our work a step further and will provide researchers and industry experts access to this method within a lab setting.”

Dr Wood and a postdoctoral researcher will explore how different ways of freezing samples affect the clarity of X-ray imaging. They’ll compare methods such as ‘flash freezing’, which freezes really quickly, versus ‘ramped freezing’, which freezes more slowly. They’ll also investigate high-pressure freezing.

Dr Wood said: “The idea is to image things in their original state. Lots of biological tissues have water and therefore they might dry out at room temperature. But if you freeze them, the aim is to preserve them closer to their near-native state, which hopefully gives data that’s more accurate.

“High pressure freezing looks to prevent ice crystals from forming within soft biological tissues that would otherwise expand and cause damage to cells - the reason why cryopreservation of humans is still science fiction. Freezing under high pressure helps to mitigate these effects, which is useful for follow-up electron microscopy, but the samples need to be very small and ice crystals can still form in some circumstances. 

“Understanding how both soft and hard materials interact is really important for the health of humans, animals and plants. For example, the cartilage in your joints is a soft material that can wear down too much and lead to osteoarthritis. This happens when the cartilage interacts with the hard material of the bone. 

“Teeth are another example - there’s a soft material called dentine, which supports the enamel on the outside. 

“By making this technology available to more scientists, we can learn a lot about how living things work. Having really detailed images, even down to a tiny scale, is paramount for understanding how soft and hard materials fit together, and will allow a variety of biological systems to be examined in a way not previously possible.”

Plants also rely on the interplay between soft and hard materials. They have xylem and phloem structures, which are crucial for survival in various different environments and changing conditions. 

Dr Wood added: “We’re the only institution in the world to have this specific capability and my hope is this project will help to redefine lab-based X-ray bioscience research and set new standards of excellence in the field.”

The funding was awarded by the UK Research and Innovation’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.