Super-Resolution Localization Microscopy

Light microscopy techniques have been vital to our understanding of biological structures and systems since their invention in the late 16 Century. However, conventional light microscopy techniques are limited by the diffraction limit of light, preventing us from seeing anything smaller than approximately 200 nm in x and y and approximately 500 nm in z. Many molecules and structures of interest require a higher degree of resolution than this to visualize, so it was necessary to develop a technique to break the diffraction limit to see them. One such family of techniques are the super-resolution localization microscopy techniques which comprise Photoactivated Localization Microscopy (PALM), Stochastic Optical Resolution Microscopy (STORM) and DNAbased Point Accumulation for Imaging in Nanoscale Topography (DNA-PAINT).