LUMEN

See Biology Unfold In Time
Our advanced light microscopes let our researchers watch life in motion. Track host–pathogen encounters, follow migrating cells as they assemble muscle during development, and observe how neurons respond to cone snail venom. These tools open a window into fast, fleeting biological events once impossible to see.

Explore Living Systems In Space
From remote cameras positioned in the Angeles National Forest to AI-driven models that map large-scale movement patterns, the center is set up to capture nature across wide landscapes. Back in the lab, our light and electron microscopes reveal entire insects, leaves, and brains through automated stage control, precision rotation, and joystick-guided imaging.

Reveal Hidden Worlds In Color
Modern fluorescent labels have transformed how scientists understand interactions within and between organisms. The LUMEN Center brings these techniques to life, highlighting partnerships between bacteria and sea sponges, marking protein activity in developing tissues, and uncovering vibrant cellular conversations in real time.

Get Exceptionally Close
Our Stellaris confocal microscope uses finely tuned lasers to scan through tissues and produce crisp, high-resolution views of life inside cells. The scanning electron microscope magnifies surface structures with remarkable detail, from the intricate hairs on sea spider legs to the textures of a single grain of pollen.

IN TIME  Using light microscopes, we can catch dynamical processes observed in biology, such as host-pathogen interactions (Cheryl and Shana faculty page link), migrations of cells during development to form muscle (Frank Macabenta faculty page link) with bacteria and changes in brain activity in response to cone snail venom (Joseph Schulz page link). 

IN SPACE  From the use of cameras tucked away in the Angeles National Forest to AI-based models of movements, the center offers resources to capture nature and biology at large scales. Our light and electron microscopes also can image the structure of entire insects, leaves, and brains with automated stage control and acquisition (light microscopes) and with rotation/joystick control of our samples with electron microscopes

IN COLOR Over the last few decades, labeling compartments and proteins with different colors has opened up new fields for the understanding of interactions between different biological entities. In Dr. Goffredi’s lab, symbiotic interactions with bacteria and sea sponges are illuminated. In Dr. Macabenta’s lab, ced

UP CLOSE Our Stellaris confocal microscope uses lasers to precisely scan through a biological sample and create high resolution pictures of the dynamics inside of cells. The scanning electron microscope is capable of revealing the fine details of the surface of structures such as the hairy legs of sea spiders or the fine details of a speck of pollen.