Glowing Molecules Could Reveal Skin Cancer, Without a Biopsy

If you want to get a mole checked to see if it's cancerous, it usually involves getting a bit of your skin sliced off and sent to a lab, in a process called a biopsy. The technique involves a high-resolution microscope that allows doctors to see the patient's mitochondria — the powerhouses of the cell, which "often form beautiful networks inside cells," said the study's lead investigator, Irene Georgakoudi, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Tufts University in M