Live Imaging of mRNA Transcription in Drosophila Embryos

Live imaging has been used in recent years for the understanding of dynamic processes in biology, such as embryo development. This was made possible by a combination of advancements in microscopy, leading to improved signal-to-noise ratios and better spatial and temporal resolutions, and by the development of new fluorescence markers, allowing for the quantification of protein expression and transcriptional dynamics in vivo. Here we describe a general protocol, which can be used in standard confocal microscopes to image early Drosophila melanogaster embryos, in order to learn about the transcriptional dynamics of a fluorescently labeled RNA.