Prof. Elizabeth New
University of Sydney

While there are now many sophisticated imaging techniques to study biological systems, chemists hold the key to understanding what is happening in the cell, on a molecular level. We are interested in designing small molecule fluorescent sensors to probe sub-cellular molecular species, and we are particularly interested in studying redox state in cells, and imaging biological metal ions. We have been able to use our new fluorescent probes in various confocal microscopy experiments, including the use of spectral imaging and lifetime imaging, to gain important new information about the chemistry of the cell. These selective sensing systems that are ideal for microscopy of cultured cells or tissue sections. In contrast, cross-reactive sensor arrays coupled with multivariate statistical analysis are particularly useful for studying complex samples such as body fluids. We have developed a fluorescent sensor array for serum platinum levels, which can be used to gain information on the concentration of platinum drugs within clinical serum samples.