Optical tweezers have become the method of choice in single-molecule manipulation
studies. In this Primer, we first review the physical principles of optical tweezers and the …

The twin-supercoiled-domain model describes how transcription can drive DNA
supercoiling, and how DNA supercoiling, in turn, plays an important role in regulating gene …

The double-stranded nature of DNA links its replication, transcription and repair to rotational
motion and torsional strain. Magnetic tweezers (MT) are a powerful single-molecule …

The creation of optically powered self-assembling nano-to-meso-scale machines that do
work is a long-standing goal in photonics. We demonstrate an optical matter (OM) machine …

Type IIA topoisomerases are essential DNA processing enzymes that must robustly and
reliably relax DNA torsional stress. While cellular processes constantly create varying …

DNA torsional elastic properties play a crucial role in DNA structure, topology, and the
regulation of motor protein progression. However, direct measurements of these parameters …

DNA melting under torsion plays an important role in a wide variety of cellular processes. In
the present Letter, we have investigated DNA melting at the single-molecule level using an …

Methods for exerting and measuring forces on single molecules have revolutionized the
study of the physics of biology. However, it is often the case that biological processes involve …

The well-established single-molecule force-spectroscopy techniques have recently been
complemented by methods that can measure torque and twist directly, notably magnetic …

Nanophotonic tweezers represent emerging platforms with significant potential for parallel
manipulation and measurements of single biological molecules on-chip. However, trapping …