Abstract
Light microscopy is an essential tool in biological research. However, the spatial resolution of light microscopy, classically limited by diffraction to a few hundred nanometers, is substantially larger than typical molecular length scales in cells. Hence many subcellular structures cannot be resolved by conventional light microscopy. The speaker and her research group recently developed a new form of super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM), that breaks the diffraction limit. STORM uses single-molecule imaging and photo-switchable fluorescent probes to temporally separate the spatially overlapping images of individual molecules. This approach allows the localization of fluorescent probes with nanometer precision and the construction of sub-diffraction-limit images. Using this method, the group have achieved multicolor and three-dimensional (3D) imaging of live cells and tissues with nanometer-scale resolution. In this talk, the speaker will discuss the general principles, recent technological advances and biological applications of STORM.
About the speaker
Prof Xiaowei Zhuang received her PhD in Physics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1996. She was a Chodorow Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University for 5 years. In 2001, she joined the faculty of Harvard University, where she is currently Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and Professor of Physics. She is also an Investigator of Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).
Prof Zhuang is a leading expert in single-molecule biology and bioimaging. Her lab develops and applies advanced optical imaging techniques, such as super-resolution light microscopy and single-molecule imaging approaches, to study biological systems quantitatively. Her single-molecule fluorescence studies have yielded fundamental understandings of nucleic-acid folding and nucleic-acid-protein interactions. Her lab recently invented a super-resolution fluorescence microscopy method, STORM, which breaks the diffraction limit and allows fluorescence imaging with nanometer-scale resolution. This innovation has been adopted worldwide for high-resolution bioimaging and generated important insights into cellular structures.
Prof Zhuang is a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences. She received a number of awards including the MacArthur Fellowship, Sloan Fellowship, Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, Beckman Young Investigator Award, Searle Scholar Award, National Science Foundation CAREER Award, Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, TR Worlds Top 100 Young Innovators Award, Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, Coblentz Award, ACS Award in Pure Chemistry, HHMI Collaborative Innovation Award, APS Max Delbruck Prize in Biological Physics, Raymond & Beverly Sackler International Prize in Biophysics, etc.
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