Single molecule techniques comprise a set of experimental methods that detect, manipulate, and analyze individual biomolecules or molecular complexes, circumventing ensemble averaging and revealing heterogeneity in structure, dynamics, and function. Core modalities include single-molecule fluorescence (e.g., smFRET, TIRF microscopy), optical and magnetic tweezers, atomic force microscopy, and nanopore-based sensing. These techniques enable direct measurement of forces, conformational changes, binding/unbinding events, and reaction pathways with nanometer spatial and millisecond (or better) temporal resolution. They are widely applied to study nucleic acid–protein interactions, molecular motors, enzyme kinetics, folding energy landscapes, and mechanotransduction at the level of individual molecules.
A team of physicists at Harvard University has succeeded in trapping individual polyatomic molecules in optical tweezer arrays for the first time. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the group describes how they ...
In order to better understand fundamental processes in life science at the molecular level, the precise observation of single molecule dynamics is of utmost interest. However, current techniques based on fluorescence measurements ...
Bio & Medicine
Apr 30, 2024
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84
A research group has developed a new and highly efficient upconversion luminescence mechanism by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) induced luminescence to observe an extraordinarily bright single-molecule upconversion electroluminescence ...
Optics & Photonics
Apr 1, 2024
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159
An international team of researchers from Queen Mary University of London, the University of Oxford, Lancaster University, and the University of Waterloo have developed a new single-molecule transistor that uses quantum interference ...
Nanophysics
Mar 25, 2024
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754
A team that included researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory used a new twist on an old method to detect materials at some of the smallest amounts yet recorded.
Nanophysics
Mar 19, 2024
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161
In a new Nature Communications study, Columbia Engineering researchers report that they have built highly conductive, tunable single-molecule devices in which the molecule is attached to leads by using direct metal-metal ...
Nanophysics
Mar 5, 2024
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185
In a study published in Nature Nanotechnology, scientists from Delft University of Technology present a new technique to identify proteins. Proteins carry out essential functions in our cells, while playing a crucial role ...
Bio & Medicine
Feb 15, 2024
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210
In a new Nature Communications study, researchers have explored the construction of genetic circuits on single DNA molecules, demonstrating localized protein synthesis as a guiding principle for dissipative nanodevices, offering ...
A research team led by Prof. Yang Liangbao from Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), has observed the interactions between aromatic molecules and Au surfaces on a single Au nanodimer by ...
Nanomaterials
Jan 19, 2024
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415
EPFL scientists have unveiled a method using biological nanopores and deep learning to detect protein modifications, offering new avenues in disease diagnostics.
Bio & Medicine
Jan 18, 2024
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61
