Research

Single-Molecule Spectroscopy and Tracking, Superresolution Imaging, and Trapping of Single Biomolecules and Photosynthetic Proteins

Executive Summary:
The Moerner Laboratory utilizes laser spectroscopy and microscopy of single molecules to probe biological processes, one biomolecule at a time.  Primary thrusts include development and application of fluorescence microscopy far beyond the optical diffraction limit by PALM/STORM and STED approaches, invention and validation of methods for precise and accurate 3D optical microscopy in cells, and trapping of single biomolecules in solution for extended study.  These approaches are applied to explore protein localization patterns in bacteria, to measure structures of amyloid aggregates in cells, to define the behavior of signaling proteins in the primary cilium, to quantify photodynamics for photosynthetic proteins and enzymes, and to observe the dynamics of DNA and RNA in cells and viruses.

Click on any image below for more information. For Single Molecule Movies, [click here]! For Affiliations/Centers, scroll down.

Single-Molecule Basics, Selected Bibliography and Reviews
Superresolution Cellular Studies in 2D and 3D Using Single-Molecule Active Control Microscopy (SMACM) and STED Microscopy	Development of 3D Superresolution Imaging Using Single-Molecule Emitters
Trapping Single Photosynthetic Proteins and Enzymes in Solution for Extended Study	Biophysics, Single-Molecule Tracking in 2D and 3D in Cells
Nanophotonics	Chaperonins and Protein Aggregation Diseases
Other Single-Molecule Studies	Ultrasensitive Detection
Past Projects: Photorefractive Polymers

Affiliations/Centers

Stanford Biophysics Program

Stanford ChEM-H

Stanford Photonics Research Center

Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford

The Bio-X Program at Stanford University

 

Research Support

In recent years, this research has been supported in part by the following organizations, to whom we are grateful!