title: Light forces the pace: optical manipulation for biophotonics.
abstract: The biomedical sciences have benefited immensely from photonics technologies in the last 50 years. This includes the application of minute forces that enable the trapping and manipulation of cells and single molecules. In terms of the area of biophotonics, optical manipulation has made a seminal contribution to our understanding of the dynamics of single molecules and the microrheology of cells. Here we present a review of optical manipulation, emphasizing its impact on the areas of single-molecule studies and single-cell biology, and indicating some of the key experiments in the fields.
authors.affiliation: University of St Andrews, Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, School of Physics and Astronomy, North Haugh, Fife, United Kingdom. ds50@st-andrews.ac.uk
authors.forename: David James
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Stevenson
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gunn-Moore
authors.forename: Kishan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dholakia
mesh_terms: D002469:Cell Separation / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D008027:Light; D008846:Micromanipulation / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D015336:Molecular Probe Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D052898:Optical Tweezers; D010783:Photometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods