Photonics (Pittsfield, Mass., Aug. 8) – Researchers from Illinois recently tested gradient light interference microscopy, which produces images from multiple depths of a sample that can then be composited into a single 3-D image. It was tested on various samples, including live bovine embryos. Researchers believe that the technique could be used to help determine embryo viability before in vitro fertilization in humans. “One of the holy grails of embryology is finding a way to determine which embryos are most viable,” says Mathew Wheeler, a professor of animal sciences and bioengineering at Illinois.