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Science 7 November 2003:
Vol. 302. no. 5647, pp. 1002 - 1005
DOI: 10.1126/science.1067410
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Review

Scanning Probe Evolution in Biology

J. K. H. Hörber1 and M. J. Miles2*

Twenty years ago the first scanning probe instrument, the scanning tunneling microscope, opened up new realms for our perception of the world. Atoms that had been abstract entities were now real objects, clearly seen as distinguishable individuals at particular positions in space. A whole family of scanning probe instruments has been developed, extending our sense of touching to the scale of atoms and molecules. Such instruments are especially useful for imaging of biomolecular structures because they can produce topographic images with submolecular resolution in aqueous environments. Instruments with increased imaging rates, lower probe-specimen force interactions, and probe configurations not constrained to planar surfaces are being developed, with the goal of imaging processes at the single-molecule level—not only at surfaces but also within three-dimensional volumes—in real time.

1 Department of Physiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 5229 Scott Hall, 540East Canfield Avenue, Detroit, MI 48201, USA.
2 H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL, UK.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: m.j.miles{at}bristol.ac.uk

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