Quantitative image processing.
Light microscopy is a ubiquitous and fundamental tool in the life sciences, especially after the GFP revolution made it possible to directly observe the localization and dynamics of proteins in cellular processes in living cells. The coincident development of detectors with increasingly sensitive and accurate detection of fluores- cence allows quantitative, dynamic measurements of the amount and localization of molecules in cells. Consequently, Bioimage informatics as a key enabling technology to extract this information from images is emerging as a highly proliferative field of investigation. Indeed since the beginning of this funding period, the field has gained significant tracktion and since the beginning of 2019, 16 papers have been published in the prestigious nature methods alone (1 - 16) that deal with image processing from electron microscopy (2 - 4) over tracking live animals (7, 10) to machine learning in big datasets (5, 9) and analysis of resolution in super- resolution imaging (12, 15). While the techniques available are growing exponentially, it is nearly impossible for the wetlab biologist to keep up with the development to benefit from the new possibilities optimally. As a central resource to the Transregio initiative, the Z02 project provides expertise in image processing to all la- boratories of the CRC-TRR to catalyze enhanced productivity in the analysis of microscopy data in biological laboratories that do not have a resident image processing expert.
To do so, the aim of the project is to provide i) training in image analysis to TRR coworkers, ii) technical support towards image analysis and the development of specific software solutions, iii) technical in- frastructure for image analysis in terms of computational resources and software, iv) infrastructure for data sharing and storage and v) provide accessible information on novel image processing solutions and resources available in the scientific community.
The Z02 project is hosted by the Ewers lab which has a long-standing expertise in multidimensional live cell imaging, single molecule tracking and super-resolution microscopy including the development of novel tech- nology and data analysis approaches.