Optical tweezers have become the method of choice in single-molecule manipulation
studies. In this Primer, we first review the physical principles of optical tweezers and the …

Plasmonic biosensing has been used for fast, real-time, and label-free probing of
biologically relevant analytes, where the main challenges are to detect small molecules at …

Manipulation of individual molecules with optical tweezers provides a powerful means of
interrogating the structure and folding of proteins. Mechanical force is not only a relevant …

INTRODUCTION In DNA double helices, hydrogen bonds connect the base pairs across the
two strands, and stacking bonds act along the helical axis between neighboring base pairs …

Direct observation of the detailed conformational fluctuations of a single protein molecule en
route to its folded state has so far been realized only in silico. We have used single-molecule …

The modern scientific method is critically dependent on precision measurements of physical
parameters. A classic example is the measurement of the optical phase enabled by optical …

The relationship between protein three-dimensional structure and function is essential for
mechanism determination. Unfortunately, most techniques do not provide a direct …

For several decades optical tweezers have proven to be an invaluable tool in the study and
analysis of myriad biological responses and applications. However, as with every tool, they …

Cellular DNA is continuously engaged in a molecular dance with many accessory proteins.
These proteins are responsible for orchestrating the storage, maintenance, and transfer of …

Over the past years, bottom-up bionanotechnology has been developed as a promising tool
for future technological applications. Many of these biomolecule-based assemblies are …