New Arrival in the Lab: Razor-Sharp and Ice-Cold

A very special kind of equipment handover: Nicole Droste, Commercial Director at Leica Biosystems, personally visited INM-1 together with other company representatives to inspect the newly installed large cryostat. The new device – company name CM 3600 – replaces a Leica cryostat that had to be taken “out of service” after 25 years of operation.

Its successor will also be used to produce micrometer-thin tissue sections of human brains, which are needed, among other things, for the Julich Brain Atlas. The Atlas is a central component of the European digital research platform EBRAINS.

In the research group “Fiber Architecture” led by Prof. Markus Axer, these sections are used to study structural connectivity and fiber architecture in post-mortem brains using Polarized Light Imaging (3D-PLI) technology. To prepare the brains for research, they must be deeply frozen – which is why the cryostat cools down to -50 degrees Celsius.

The “newcomer” in the lab has the same external dimensions as its predecessor. Existing components such as camera mounts, computer interfaces, and accessories (blades, sample holders) can therefore continue to be used. The acquisition – approximately 385,000 euros – was financed through the Structural and Development Fund (STEF) of Forschungszentrum Jülich.