New directions in single-molecule imaging and analysis
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Edited by Robert J. Silbey, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, and approved March 22, 2007 (received for review January 16, 2007)
Abstract
Optical imaging and analysis of single molecules continue to unfold as powerful ways to study the individual behavior of biological systems, unobscured by ensemble averaging. Current expansion of interest in this field is great, as evidenced by new meetings, journal special issues, and the large number of new investigators. Selected recent advances in biomolecular analysis are described, and two new research directions are summarized: superresolution imaging using single-molecule fluorescence and trapping of single molecules in solution by direct suppression of Brownian motion.
Footnotes
- *E-mail: wmoerner{at}stanford.edu
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Author contributions: W.E.M. analyzed data and wrote the paper.
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The author declares no conflict of interest.
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This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
- Abbreviations:
- FRET,
- Förster resonant energy transfer;
- PSF,
- point-spread function;
- PALM,
- photoactivated localization microscopy;
- ABEL,
- anti-Brownian electrokinetic;
- TMV,
- tobacco mosaic virus;
- STED,
- stimulated emission depletion.
- © 2007 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA
