Context:
Researchers at the Winona State University, Minnesota, have created a design for a ‘glowscope’, a device that could democratize access to fluorescence microscopy.
Relevance:
GS III: Science and Technology
Dimensions of the Article:
- About Fluorescence Microscopy
- How it works?
- Applications
About Fluorescence Microscopy:
- Fluorescence microscopy is a technique that uses the principles of fluorescence to study an object. This involves viewing how the object re-emits light that it has absorbed, i.e., how it fluoresces.
How it works?
- The way fluorescence microscopy works is by illuminating the object with a specific wavelength of light.
- Particles within the object, called fluorophores, absorb the light and re-emit it at a higher wavelength or different color.
- Before being viewed through the microscope, the object is infused with fluorophores to make it fluorescent.
- As the fluorophores fluoresce, the microscope can track them as they move within the object, allowing visualization of its internal structure and characteristics.
- Different fluorophores have been developed by scientists to study various entities such as specific parts of DNA and protein complexes.
Applications:
- Fluorescence microscopy is useful for imaging specific features of small specimens, such as microbes.
- It can enhance the visualization of 3-D features at small scales.
- The technique allows for multicolor staining and labeling of structures within cells, as well as measuring the physiological state of a cell.
- The most popular application of fluorescence microscopy is for studying dynamic behavior in live-cell imaging.
- Multiple types of molecules can now be stained with different colors, enabling simultaneous tracking and observation of various molecules.
-Source: The Hindu
