Philip Tinnefeld - Jueves 17 de Diciembre 15:00 hs

Assembling and Analyzing on the Nanoscale: from Fluorophore Photostability to DNA Origami Devices

Fluorescence microscopy and single-molecule biophysics heavily depend on small organic fluorophores that are prone to complex photophysics and photobleaching.
In the first part of my talk, I will address progress in our understanding and improvement of single fluorescent dyes.
In the second part, I will describe our efforts for constructing self-assembled functional devices using DNA nanotechnology including nanoscopic rulers for superresolution microscopy and energy transfer switches.
DNA origamis are also used to construct nanoscale force balances with FRET readout or for single-molecule placement in zeromode waveguides using nanoadapters. Especially, self-assembled nanoparticles forming optical antennas can enhance fluorescence and hold great potential for single-molecule detection at higher concentration for biomolecular assays but also for biosensing applications.