Joelle L. Bolt
The atomic-force microscope (AFM) was developed 20 years ago, but only recently has it become a significant tool for biologists. Irene Revenko, applications scientist at Santa Barbara, Calif.-based AFM manufacturer, Asylum Research, says when AFMs first came into biology, most of the experiments were essentially just replicating earlier findings that had been done on other instruments. "In the last five years people began to get new data with AFMs that they weren't getting with other microscopy techniques."
With their "scanning probe" design, AFMs can be used in experiments that map a sample's mechanical compliance (hardness), charge, or magnetic field, as well as in force spectroscopy studies. The tool's primary biological application, however, remains imaging, where its high resolution and ability to image live samples now make it a device worth considering for researchers seeking to combine electron microscope-level resolution with the sample variety afforded by optical microscopes.
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