Most cell biologists these days are also cinematographers. Making movies of the cells, tissues, and embryos that we study under a microscope is a regular occurrence in the laboratory. Like cinematographers working on any cinematic production, we are in charge of the technical aspects of filming. We choose the type of microscope and microscope lens, along with deciding on the lighting of our ‘actors’. To be clear, there is no director in these productions; the cells are responsible for their own performance and we are only there to facilitate their storytelling. This approach is certainly not unique. Movie making is now commonplace in virtually all biological disciplines and is part of any experimentalist’s toolkit. When did making movies of cells become such a standard technique? Who were the pioneers of ‘cinema photomicrography’ as it was originally known? A number of research groups in the UK played a central role in the early development of tissue culture and cinema photomicrography, with many working at the Strangeways Research Laboratory in Cambridge. With the help of the Wellcome Library, films that had been sitting on a shelf in our laboratory from two Strangeway’s cinemicroscopists have been digitized and are now freely available for all to see.
Below are examples of scientific films from pioneers in the use of movie making as an experimental tool. The oldest of the films is from Ronald Canti, who was famous for investigating the effects of radiation on cells. He arguably was the first to use microcinematography as an experimental approach to address a biological question. The more recent of the movies is from a pioneering cell biologist, Michael Abercrombie, whose research was crucial in explaining various aspects of how cells migrate. He was also one of the first scientists to use film as a quantitative tool. Filming is not just used to qualitatively describe biological processes, but for actual measurement. To learn more about these scientists visit our blog on the Wellcome Library's website, or in our review in The Journal of Cell Science.
Below are examples of scientific films from pioneers in the use of movie making as an experimental tool. The oldest of the films is from Ronald Canti, who was famous for investigating the effects of radiation on cells. He arguably was the first to use microcinematography as an experimental approach to address a biological question. The more recent of the movies is from a pioneering cell biologist, Michael Abercrombie, whose research was crucial in explaining various aspects of how cells migrate. He was also one of the first scientists to use film as a quantitative tool. Filming is not just used to qualitatively describe biological processes, but for actual measurement. To learn more about these scientists visit our blog on the Wellcome Library's website, or in our review in The Journal of Cell Science.