Maria Nazarova, a PhD student at the IGBMC in Strasbourg, investigates chromatin dynamics and how enhancers interact with promoters using live-cell imaging.

Through the France-BioImaging Access Fund, she joined the MRI-CRBM platform in Montpellier to explore Lattice Light Sheet microscopy as a way to reduce phototoxicity and follow transcriptional dynamics in mouse stem cells. Despite technical limitations with time resolution, the experience offered her valuable insights into the system’s potential and the challenges of multi-color live imaging.

She highlights the warm support and expertise of the MRI team, particularly Virginie Georget, and stresses how the stay not only broadened her technical understanding but also shaped the way she designs future experiments.

Mariia Nazarova, PhD student