Spying on the eating habits of cells "could help cancer diagnosis"

Scientists have created a new imaging technology to visualize what cells eat, which could help diagnose and treat diseases such as cancer.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have developed chemical probes that light up when they attach to specific molecules, such as glucose, that feed on them.

They then set up an experiment using transparent fish embryos that allowed them to monitor the dietary habits of the cells.

They used microscopes to monitor live zebrafish embryo cells.

The researchers discovered that this technique also works with growing human cells in the laboratory.

The team believes the new technology could help detect tiny changes in the dietary habits of cells in the body, thus helping to detect diseases faster.

Cell metabolism

All cells depend on glucose and other molecules for their survival and a change in their eating habits can be a precursor to the disease.

Scientists believe that their new imaging method could be adapted to search for other molecules important for health and disease.

Physicians could also use this technology to monitor patients' response to treatment, following the molecules ingested by healthy and diseased cells.

Marc Vendrell, a lecturer in biomedical imaging at the University of Edinburgh, said: "We have very few methods to measure what cells consume to produce energy, which we call the cellular metabolism.

"Our technology allows us to detect multiple metabolites simultaneously and in living cells, using just microscopes.

"This is a very important advance in understanding the metabolism of diseased cells and we hope this will help develop better treatments."

The study was published in the journal Angewandte Chemie.