Scientists at DESY have developed novel lenses that enable X-ray microscopy with record resolution in the nanometre regime. Using new materials, the research team led by DESY scientist Sasa Bajt from the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) has perfected the design of specialised X-ray optics and achieved a focus spot size with a diameter of less than ten nanometres. A nanometre is a millionths of a millimetre and is smaller than most virus particles. The researchers report their work in the journal Light: Science and Applications. They successfully used their lenses to image samples of marine plankton.