Fluorescing nanorods
Gold nanorods, which fluoresce red, were photographed inside the blood vessels of a live mouse by researchers in Purdue's Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Chemistry. The researchers have taken a step towards developing a new type of ultra-sensitive medical-imaging technique that works by shining a laser through the skin to detect the tiny rods injected into the bloodstream. In tests with mice, the nanorods yielded images nearly 60 times brighter than conventional fluorescent dyes, including rhodamine, commonly used for a wide range of biological imaging to study the workings of cells and molecules. (Purdue University photo courtesy of Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Chemistry)