What is posited to be Africa’s most advanced imaging facility opened in Cape Town on October 19, boasting some of world’s best optical microscopes now available at no cost to scientists across the continent.

Merging disciplines including physics, biology, chemistry and data science, the Africa Microscopy Initiative (AMI) Imaging Centre is said to rank among the best-equipped microscopy facilities globally, providing technical and scientific support and advanced instrument access.

The tools provided by the AMI Imaging Centre, hosted at the University of Cape Town's (UCT's) Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, were not previously available to African scientists seeking solutions to major biological and medical challenges.

These include infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV, malaria and non-infectious killers such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

The facility will also enable new research into plant and animal diseases that threaten agriculture exports and food security, including sleeping sickness (African Trypanosomiasis) and Cassava Mosaic Virus.

Combining visible light with complex arrays of lenses and advanced photophysics, modern optical microscopy is noted to enable scientists to accurately capture the smallest features and components in human, animal and plant cells and tissues. The equipment enables scientists to view objects at the nanoscale, or billionths of a metre.

When combined with advanced analytical software, microscopy images can be used to tackle some of biology’s most challenging research questions, such as how disease-causing bacteria bypass host defences to infect cells, or how damage to nerve cells can disrupt brain function.

The AMI Imaging Centre is a flagship of the AMI, which launched on the same day. AMI is the biggest microscopy initiative in Africa’s history and delivers on the African Union’s Agenda 2063 – a blueprint for transforming the continent by raising Africa’s role in global research through investments in science, technology, research, innovation and world-class infrastructure.

With funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and support from industry partners including Zeiss Microscopy and TissueGnostics, AMI’s multimillion-dollar imaging facility was developed in collaboration with the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at UCT.

AMI initiatives are underpinned by a commitment to ensuring cost-free access to qualifying researchers and scientists from across Africa, with grants covering transport, accommodation and technical or research support.

Visiting scientists to the AMI Imaging Centre get full access to advanced optical microscopes tailored for the life sciences, with high spatial and temporal resolution to study a variety of biology in live and dead samples.