Researchers achieve ultimate resolution limit in fluorescence microscopy

It is the holy grail of light microscopy: improving the resolving power of this method such that one can individually discern molecules that are very close to each other. Scientists around the Nobel laureate Stefan Hell at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen have now achieved what was for a long time considered impossible – they have developed a new fluorescence microscope, called MINFLUX, allowing, for the first time, to optically separate molecules, which are only nanometers (one millionth of a millimeter) apart from each other. This microscope is more than 100 times sharper than conventional light microscopy and surpasses even the best super-resolution light microscopy methods to date, namely STED developed by Hell and PALM/STORM described by Nobel laureate Eric Betzig, by up to 20 times. For MINFLUX, Hell used the advantages of STED and PALM/STORM in a completely new concept. This breakthrough opens up new opportunities for researchers to investigate how life functions at the molecular level.