title: Single-molecule spectroscopy and imaging of biomolecules in living cells.
abstract: The number of reports per year on single-molecule imaging experiments has grown roughly exponentially since the first successful efforts to optically detect a single molecule were completed over two decades ago. Single-molecule spectroscopy has developed into a field that includes a wealth of experiments at room temperature and inside living cells. The fast growth of single-molecule biophysics has resulted from its benefits in probing heterogeneous populations, one molecule at a time, as well as from advances in microscopes and detectors. This Perspective summarizes the field of live-cell imaging of single biomolecules.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5080, USA.
authors.forename: Samuel J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lord
authors.forename: Hsiao-lu D
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Moerner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D001703:Biophysics / Q000379:methods; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002466:Cell Nucleolus / Q000648:ultrastructure; D022082:Cellular Structures / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004867:Equipment Design; D031541:Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D008853:Microscopy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D013057:Spectrum Analysis / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*