title: Making light work with optical tweezers.
abstract: Microscopic objects, including biological material, can be remotely manipulated with tightly focused beams of infrared laser light. The use of optical traps, or 'optical tweezers', holds great promise for noninvasive micromanipulation and mechanical measurement in cell biology. Optical tweezers are the 'tractor beams' of today's technology.
authors.affiliation: Rowland Institute for Science, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Block
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003585:Cell Biology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002477:Cells / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005407:Flagella / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D007259:Infrared Rays; D007834:Lasers; D010944:Plants / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000648:ultrastructure