Syncroscopy Major Insect Imaging Project at Harvard Chooses Auto-Montage to Create International Species Standards

December 1 2003 Cambridge, UK: Syncroscopy, the world leader in unique digital imaging solutions for microscopy applications, is pleased to announce that Auto-Montage, its unique three-dimensional imaging system is being used at Harvard University to produce the world’s standard images of known and new ant species.

Researchers at Harvard University are using Auto-Montage to generate in-depth images of ants, as part of a large, on-going cataloguing project. This aims to produce definitive images of the 11,000 recognised ant species and to help identify new ones, as they are collected from countries such as Madagascar and the Philippines.

Dr Gary Alpert, an entomologist in the Environmental Health and Safety Department at Harvard University said: “There may be as many as 20,000 ant species in the world. Ants are found all over the world, and the presence or absence of certain species can indicate how much damage is being done to an area by activities such as mining, deforestation or wars. Therefore, it is vitally important to ensure that all species are correctly identified.”

“Since we have to record at least four images of different parts of each ant to identify it, without automation it would take us forever to accurately catalogue the 11,000 known species and we would have no time to check potential new ones. Using Auto-Montage is helping us rapidly catch up with cataloguing. It is not only saving time by automating the process, but it also produces quality, in-depth images, something we have found impossible to do by other methods,” added Dr. Alpert.

Bob Town, Syncroscopy’s General Sales Manager commented: “It is exciting to see Auto-Montage being used so widely by entomologists at an eminent University like Harvard. These researchers have so much confidence in the system that the images generated are being used to create web sites of, for example, ant species of countries such as Japan and means Auto-Montage is being recognised internationally as the best method of producing high resolution insect images.”

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Dr. Gary D. Alpert, Harvard University, Environmental Health and Safety Department, 175 North Harvard Street, Boston, MA 02134, USA.

Syncroscopy is a world-leading developer and supplier of innovative digital imaging solutions for optical microscopy applications. Syncroscopy's innovative brands include Auto-Montage for extended depth of focus three-dimensional imaging, Montage Explorer for the creation of the highest resolution, perfectly focused images ever seen and the SyncroCOOL camera range for cooled colour image capture. Syncroscopy's systems are used by more than 2,000 organisations internationally and include many of the world's major research institutes.

Syncroscopy, founded in 1998 is a division of the Synoptics Group based in Cambridge, UK. The Group’s other divisions, Syngene and Synbiosis, specialise in digital imaging solutions for molecular biology and microbial applications respectively. Synoptics currently employs 55 people in its UK and subsidiary operation in Frederick, USA. The Group has profitable revenue of almost $10 million and continues to grow rapidly.

Created in 1958 the Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Department at Harvard University provides a broad range of services to promote the protection of the University, community and greater environment. The staff of 45 employees has access to Harvard’s vast resources, and is part of a vibrant academic community whose ideas are shaping tomorrow's news.