Acquiring a nano-view of single molecules in actions.

In 1959, Nobel laureate Richard Feynman suggested that ‘there is plenty of room at the bottom,’ predicting the possibility of single-molecule detection and studies. Over the last 20 years, we have witnessed a rapid development in single-molecule spectroscopy. Singlemolecule spectroscopy and imaging have been demonstrated to be a powerful molecular analytical approach to studying the complex and inhomogeneous chemical, biological, and physical processes involved in protein dynamics, protein-protein interactions, protein-DNA interaction dynamics, biological and chemical catalyses, and interfacial dynamics. The discipline of singlemolecule spectroscopy has been expanded across a broad range, including optical imaging, optical spectroscopy of fluorescence and Raman, atomic force spectroscopy, and various forms of scanning probe microscopy. The significant character of this exciting development is that single-molecule spectroscopy is developing hand-in-hand with the recent advancements in nanotechnology, imaging technologies, ultrafast dynamics technologies, theoretical modeling and analyses, and computational technologies. (Published: 22 February 2010) Citation: Nano Reviews 2010, 1 : 5052 - DOI: 10.3402/nano.v1i0.5052