Rob says, 鈥淭his image was taken with our new BHF-funded Lightsheet Fluorescent Microscope, which is an incredibly fast but gentle way to image cardiovascular development.
"The image shows blood vessels that have been labelled with a fluorescent marker within a developing zebrafish brain. Each vessel has been colour coded depending upon its location within the brain.
"The fluorescent marker labels the actin cytoskeleton, a structure that helps blood vessels maintain their shape and organisation, but also provides mechanical support that allows blood vessels to grow. Zebrafish are translucent and this allows us to easily observe the formation of blood vessels within organs such as the brain as they develop.
"I can鈥檛 take credit for the beautiful transgenic line though, which was created by Aaron Savage, a PhD student in mine and Tim Chico鈥檚 labs.鈥