NASA team using microscope system designed by AU faculty member

May 13, 2008— Auburn University , Auburn Ala. —When NASA sent a team of scientists to Antarctica in February, a little piece of Auburn went with them.
Vitaly Vodyanoy, Ph.D., professor of physiology and director of the Biosensor Laboratory at Auburn University's College of Veterinary Medicine, and research assistant Oleg Pustovyy developed a rechargeable microscope illumination system for NASA scientists to use during Antarctic expeditions.
Vodyanoy's patent-pending Ilumna 120 illumination system is helping NASA scientists to observe microscopic life in areas where there is no electricity. Vodyanoy, who is a researcher with the Auburn University Detection and Food Safety Center , has enjoyed previous success in inventing illumination systems that enable microscope users to see miniscule living things. His high-resolution optical microscopy system, CytoViva 150, is now licensed and commercially produced by AETOS Technology Inc.
NASA's expeditionary team, led by Richard Hoover of the Marshall Space Flight Center, used the Illumna 120 on a preliminary, 11-day trip in February and will use the system again in November during the three-month Tawani Foundation International 2008 Schirmacher Oasis Antarctica Expedition.
According to Vodyanoy, the value of the Illumna 120 to NASA's research team lies in the fact that it is portable, compact and battery operated.
"Illumna 120 is a portable illumination device for optical microscopes and can work with most research microscopes, even small-sized ones," said Vodyanoy, who joined the AU faculty in 1989. "Ilumna 120 can be used in situations when regular power sources are absent. And, the small weight and size of this device allow for easy transport. You can pack the system in a small bag and go to places with no electricity."
When the Illumna 120's batteries are fully charged, the device can operate for six to seven hours, Vodyanoy said. It can also be operated from an outlet at either 120 or 220 volts and can be recharged with solar energy., he said.
Fitting on most old and new upright light microscopes, the Illumna 120 measures 3 inches high, 2 inches wide and 2.25 inches deep, and produces high-resolution images.
NASA scientists are using the Illumna 120 in Antarctica to study microbial life forms called extremophiles that survive and thrive in some of the most hostile conditions on the planet, such as in ice, boiling water and nuclear reactors.
In November, the team will head to Lake Untersee , an ice-covered, glacier-fed lake with a pH concentration similar to concentrated bleach. The team will attempt to determine if extremophiles are present in the highly alkaline waters of Lake Untersee .
The NASA scientists are searching for extremophiles in this lake as a test case for other exotic places around the solar system where they believe life may exist under extreme circumstances. Lake Untersee is ideal because its conditions mimic the cold and methane-rich conditions found on other planets.
According to Vodyanoy, the user-friendly Illumna 120, which was manufactured in his lab by Pustovyy during AU's winter break in December, is potentially useful across a wide spectrum.
"The Ilumna 120 has other potential research and medical applications, such as in pathogenic disease detection, geology studies, military uses in the battlefield, and during outbreaks and disasters when electricity is not available," he said.
"It would also be useful in underdeveloped countries and in isolated agricultural areas. Samples may die on the way to the lab, so the Ilumna 120 could help medical researchers have more capabilities in remote areas," Vodyanoy said.

Additionally, AUDFS researchers will use the Ilumna 120 as they study the bacteria and pathogens responsible for food-borne illness. The mission of AUDFS is to improve the safety of the U.S. food system by developing the science and engineering required to rapidly identify, pinpoint and characterize problems that arise in the food supply chain through the integration of sensor and information systems technology.

Additionally, AUDFS researchers will use the Ilumna 120 as they study the bacteria and pathogens responsible for food-borne illness. The mission of AUDFS is to improve the safety of the U.S. food system by developing the science and engineering required to rapidly identify, pinpoint and characterize problems that arise in the food supply chain through the integration of sensor and information systems technology. Vodyanoy received his master's degree in physics from the Moscow Physical Engineering Institute in 1964 and his Ph.D. in biophysics from the Agrophysical Research Institute in Leningrad , USSR , now St. Petersburg , in 1973. He was a faculty member at the Institute of Semiconductors and the A.F. Loffe Physicotechnical Institute, Academy of Sciences , Leningrad , USSR . Vodyanoy has also worked at the Department of Chemistry at New York University and the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, College of Medicine , University of California, Irvine.

With reporting by Charles Martin and Mike Clardy of the AU Office of Communications and Marketing.

 

With reporting by Charles Martin and Mike Clardy of the AU Office of Communications and Marketing.