Save
Email
Print
ShareScienceDaily (Sep. 4, 2006) — Super-high resolution optical microscopes, with powers that seemed physically impossible a decade ago, are poised to open a new era in imaging in molecular biology, according to a report scheduled for the Sept. 4 issue of Chemical & Engineering News, the ACS' weekly news magazine.
The new optical microscopes produce images that can identify the precise cellular locations of thousands of individual protein molecules with unprecedented clarity, C&EN Senior Editor Ivan Amato writes in the article.
"Once such super-resolution tools get into the hands of the many, instead of just the few who have built them, [scientists say], the effect on biology could be transformative," the article states.
Barely a decade ago, Amato explains, scientists would have scoffed at the notion of an optical microscope capable of resolving, or bringing into focus, objects as small as molecules. It would seem to defy an ironclad principle of physics dating to 1873.
However, the new generation of microscopes can do exactly that by detecting fluorophores and other fluorescent tags used to label protein molecules.
Reference: "Squint Busters: Tool Builders Are Pushing Optical Microscope Vision to Single-Molecule Sharpness"
Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:
Other bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Chemical Society.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
more 
