Sometimes science progresses because researchers come up with new theories to test and prove. Other times, collaborators from different fields are able to tap into each other’s expertise to find novel solutions. And sometimes it’s a new technology that allows both old and new questions to be answered. At a recent HSCI salon, which focused on “New Technologies for Imaging Cells,” all three of these avenues of discovery were fostered.

“The aim of this salon is to discuss new technologies that may catch your imagination and lead to new collaborations,” said faculty moderator Richard Lee, MD, leader of HSCI’s Cardiovascular Disease Program. HSCI’s salons give members of the HSCI community a chance to review and discuss the latest research on a specific topic in a relaxed environment.

Tracking stem cells as they divide, differentiate into more specific cell types, and migrate to different parts of the body is called fate mapping. Imaging techniques in this enormously active field of research are currently limited in three ways: resolution, toxicity, and the qualitative nature of the results. During the salon’s first presentation, Matthew Steinhauser, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, showed how he and his colleagues hope to address these issues by using a technology called multi-isotope imaging mass spectrometry.

The second presentation, by Cesar Nombela Arrieta, PhD, of Children’s Hospital Boston, focused on the quantitative analysis of samples using laser scanning cytometry. This technology, which is a cross between a flow cytometer and a static image cytometer — two more common research tools — uses bone marrow imaging to understand the hematopoietic (blood-forming) system. Future experiments will help determine how hematopoietic stem cells function in the diverse microenvironments of the bone marrow, answering questions such as where they need to be in the bone or the vascular system to “succeed.”

Charles Lin, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, gave the final presentation on the ability to track a single cell in a living organism. This four-dimensional visualization technology (three dimensions plus time) developed by Lin allows researchers to follow a single stem cell in real time. Lin and his colleagues are currently working to expand this technology’s capabilities to include lineage tracking and gene expression.

The second HSCI stem cell salon of the academic year, “Stem Cells and Drug Discovery,” which was held in early February at Harvard Medical School, will be covered in the next issue of Stem Cell Lines.