Next generation imaging technologies to probe structure and function of biological specimen across scales in their natural context

The IMAGINE project will develop the next generation of scale-crossing imaging technologies to enable an integrated investigation of structure and function of biological systems. It will focus on developing and integrating four major disruptive microscopy technologies, namely: X-ray imaging, cryo electron microscopy, cryo and dynamic super-resolution microscopy and large volume intravital light microscopy. It will furthermore develop the AI-powered image analysis and data integration/sharing capabilities, that are needed to correlate these technologies and make their data widely available. To harness their power for some of the most pressing societal challenges, IMAGINE will prepare its new imaging technologies to be deployed in the field, on Europe’s seas and coastlines, so that the collection of environmental specimen in their natural context can be coupled with their study by highest resolution imaging technologies.

The IMAGINE technologies are currently at the cutting edge of physics and engineering and therefore only available in isolation and to specialists. The project aims to bring them to the European life science user community at large by developing and validating them for service readiness, so that they can be provided as future services by Europe’s Research Infrastructures (RIs). To this end, the project will train RI staff on the operation and use of the IMAGINE technologies. To promote broad dissemination as commercial instruments, IMAGINE will develop technologies jointly between academia and industry promoting open innovation with key instrumentation manufacturers in the imaging field.

The life science community increasingly relies on RIs to access ever more complex and rapidly developing scientific instruments. The scale-crossing imaging technologies developed by IMAGINE will be critical to empower ground-breaking research in Europe, that is so urgently needed to address some of the biggest challenges our societies will face in the future.