One of the ultimate goals of molecular biology is to watch how single proteins work in their native state. However, the current mainstream approach of single-molecule fluorescence relies on introducing external fluorescent markers which can lead to severe issues affecting the experimental results. As an alternative to fluorescence labeling, working in the ultraviolet is appealing to take advantage of the intrinsic autofluorescence naturally present in the vast majority of proteins. However, proteins are orders of magnitude dimmer as compared to conventional fluorescent dyes, so single protein UV detection has remained a challenge so far. Hence, new nanotechnology tools need to be introduced.
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Source: Phys.org