Using fluorescence microscopy, we studied the catalysis by and folding of individual
Tetrahymena thermophila ribozyme molecules. The dye-labeled and surface-immobilized …

I review single-molecule experiments (SMEs) in biological physics. Recent technological
developments have provided the tools to design and build scientific instruments of high …

Throughout their lives, all cells constantly experience and respond to various mechanical
forces. These frequently originate externally but can also arise internally as a result of the …

From the extracellular matrix to the cytoskeleton, a network of molecular links connects cells
to their environment. Molecules in this network transmit and detect mechanical forces, which …

The interplay between the mechanical properties of cells and the forces that they produce
internally or that are externally applied to them play an important role in maintaining the …

Recent interest in modeling biochemical networks raises questions about the relationship
between often complex mathematical models and familiar arithmetic concepts from classical …

The force produced by a single molecule of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase during
transcription was measured optically. Polymerase immobilized on a surface was used to …

Optical tweezers have found many applications in biology, but for reasonable intensities,
conventional traps are limited to particles> 100 nm in size. We use a double-nanohole in a …

MUSCLE contraction is driven by the cyclical interaction of myosin with actin, coupled to the
breakdown of ATP. Studies of the interaction of filamentous myosin1 and of a double …

Many biologically important macromolecules undergo motions that are essential to their
function. Biophysical techniques can now resolve the motions of single molecules down to …