We use light and force to look at single molecules

Single molecule techniques have greatly developed over the past thirty years to respond to the need of overcoming limitations of traditional, bulk solution measurements. We use light to illuminate single molecules and follow their movements both in vitro and in living cells with nanometer accuracy or reconstruct super-resolution images of cellular components. Light can be also used to manipulate single biological molecules to measure mechanical properties of motor proteins or biopolymers and control the mechanical parameters of protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions.