Advanced Light Microscopy and Spectroscopy Laboratory

Main Use: Microdissection of cells and tissue elements for downstream analysis

The Leica LMD7000 laser microdissection system enables dissection of a wide variety of biological samples. Specimens ranging from mammalian and human cells to plants and bacteria can be specifically isolated and collected for use in genomics (DNA), transcriptomics (mRNA, miRNA), proteomics, metabolomics, and next generation sequencing (NGS).

Laser Microdissection, also known as LMD or LCM (Laser Capture Microdissection), is a contact- and contamination-free method for isolating specific single cells or entire areas of tissue from a wide variety of tissue samples. The thickness, texture and preparation technique of the original tissue are relatively unimportant. The dissectate is then available for further molecular biological methods such as PCR, real-time PCR, proteomics and other analytical techniques. Laser microdissection is now used in a large number of research fields, e.g. neurology, cancer research, plant analysis, forensics or climate research. The method is meanwhile also applied for manipulation of cell cultures or for microengraving of coverslips.