Femtonewton force spectroscopy of single extended DNA molecules.
We studied the thermal fluctuations of single DNA molecules with a novel optical tweezer based force spectroscopy technique. This technique combines femtonewton sensitivity with millisecond time resolution, surpassing the sensitivity of previous force measurements in aqueous solution with comparable bandwidth by a hundredfold. Our data resolve long-standing questions concerning internal hydrodynamics of the polymer and anisotropy in the molecular relaxation times and friction coefficients. The dynamics at high extension show interesting nonlinear behavior.
Meiners
J C
JC
Department of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
Quake
S R
SR
D000465:Algorithms; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force
D004247:DNA