Fluorescence microscopy method pinpoints the positions of individual molecules in living cells

Anyone who has ever taken a group photo will be familiar with the problem: If everyone is constantly running around, it's almost impossible to get a sharp photo. Cell biologists who want to visualize molecular processes inside cells face a similar challenge.

The BioOptics World take on this story:

Dynamic molecular patterns in cells are difficult to observe by fluorescence microscopy alone, as molecules are too numerous and their movements are too fast. Recognizing this, researchers at the Max Planck Institute developed a method that allows them to observe nanometer-sized patterns of biomolecules such as proteins in an arrested but living state. By lowering the temperature of living cells to completely suspend the macromolecular motion in cells, it yields a sufficient amount of time to capture high-resolution images of molecular patterns. With the method, the researchers could obtain multiple snapshots to reveal motion patterns.