ABSTRACT
In re cent ye ars, “ imaging” a nd pa rticularly “ biological i maging” h as a lmost b ecome a s cience i n i ts own right. Fundamentally, however, it is just a set of tools directed toward a speci c measurement problem that includes spatial discrimination over a de ned coordinate system. e emphasis on spatial discrimination t herefore, e ssentially de nes t he me asurement a s i maging. is is n ot t o u nderestimate the enormous importance and impact that di erent imaging approaches have made on biological and biomedical research. In fact, the reason that “imaging” occupies this lauded position resides in the spectacular success and impact such techniques have brought to life science research. Imaging as an experimental endeavor has t hree essential requirements or components t hat must be present to en sure t hat most information is available for making some assessment of a b iological process. e rst deals with the acquisition of an imaging signal itself using, for example, a CCD camera or a photomultiplier output from a s canned s ample. is aspect of the imaging process, customarily, is what most would associate with the imaging. ere are two further requirements, however, that may augment the information content of an imaging experiment. us, a su itable optical probe can “target” a feature to “ light it up.” Examples of t hese features w ill be i ndicated l ater i n t his chapter (see, e .g., Figures 17.1 a nd 17.2) but perhaps t he most well k nown a re t he uorescent proteins such a s GFP a nd i ntracellular c alcium ion indicators such as Fura.
