A team at the University of Tokyo have developed a mid-infrared microscope which they suggest will give researchers a better understanding of the structures inside living bacteria, down to the nanoscale.

Producing images at 120 nanometres, “30 times better than that of conventional mid-infrared microscopy,” said Professor Takuro Ideguchi from the Institute for Photon Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo, the improved technique for viewing samples at a smaller scale has implications for multiple research fields including infectious diseases.