Chemistry
Eric Betzig, William E. Moerner (US), and Stefan W. Hell (Germany)
Image via The Guardian
Incredibly accomplished physicists on their own, this group combined their brain power to find a way to study cells with attention to minuscule molecular details using nanoscopy. They believed using microscopes that were limited by half the wavelength of light were outdated so, they began experimenting to get a much closer look. Using fluorescent molecules, they’ve been able to take the field of optical microscopy into the nanodimension.
Stefan Hell developed stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy that uses laser beams that cause fluorescent molecules to glow and give us a clearer picture of a certain section of focus than we’ve ever seen before.
Eric Betzig and William Moerner did individual work with the mission of single-molecule microscopy. Their method allowed them to superimpose images of the same area at the nanolevel which resulted in a dense and detailed view, like the photo below.
Image via The Guardian
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