Window to the microcosm – Republic

Stefan Hell, Max Planck Institute, Germany

Source PAP / EPA

Prof. William E. Moerner, Stanford University, USA

Source: PAP / EPA

Prof. Eric Betzig Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, USA

Source: PAP / EPA

The pioneers of a new field, nanoskopii optical, were this year’s winners in chemistry – Krzysztof Kowalski.

The three scientists received the award for developing a fluorescence microscope with very high resolution and the development of this research technique. Americans Eric Betzig and William E. Moerner and Germany Stefan W. Hell will share equally 8 million Swedish kronor (equivalent to about 3.7 million zł) – decided to Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. This year’s awards ceremony (the winners will also receive gold medals and diplomas) will take place on December 10 in Stockholm. Profiles winners

Eric Betzig works at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Ashburn, William E. Moerner is a professor at Stanford University, and Stefan W. Hell is a director of the Max-Planck fur Chemie biophysikalische in Munich.

Nobel Prize laureates in chemistry were so far 166 people, among them only 63 received the award for individual work.

Precursors

German scientist in 2000 developed the first fluorescent microscope STED (Stimulated Emission Depletion) with exceptionally high resolution. In contrast, two Americans, working independently, have created the basis of the method termed single molecule microscopy. Eric Betzig applied it for the first time in 2006.

The Nobel Committee justified the verdict: “With the development of fluorescence microscopy can examine living cells at the level of the smallest particles. The work of Nobel Prize winners brought to nano-sized optical microscopy. “

This year’s winners broke the previous limitations of optical microscopy, which did not allow to observe structures smaller than 0.2 microns (one micron is one millionth of a meter). And thanks to their achievements can now be explore the nanoworld (one nanometer is one billionth of a meter.)

– For a long time optical microscopy is limited by the assumption that we will never be able to achieve better resolution than half the wavelength of light. This is called. limit Abbe designated yet in 1873.

With fluorescent molecules winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014 in a brilliant way bypassed these restrictions. Their groundbreaking work in optical microscopy was nanowymiar – said the Nobel committee. Unlike classical optical microscope , utilizing the phenomenon of absorption and reflection of light, the fluorescence microscope is a light microscope, the operation of which is based on the phenomenon of fluorescence and phosphorescence.

Fluorescence microscopy studies of the sample can be of natural origin (for example, chlorophyll fluorescence) or be the result of joining the sample chemicals after excitation of fluorescent light of a specific length.

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