The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has announced a three-year, $1.6 million grant to Arizona State University to enable researcher Nongjian Tao to design a microscopy system that can be used to study the dynamics of individual molecules.

The grant will support Tao's work at ASU's Biodesign Institute, where he has been designing advanced microscopy techniques to capture molecular-scale phenomena in living systems. Based in part on a phenomenon known as plasmonic resonance, the new techniques, which combine multiple imaging modalities, are expected to revolutionize the study of biology and the development of new drugs. "To study the dynamics of individual molecules in living systems, extremely high resolution alone is not enough," said Tao, who directs the institute's Center for Bioelectronics and Biosensors. "You also need the ability to image and record very fast processes as they occur."

The new system will enable researchers not only to observe a specimen's form at a minute scale, but also investigate chemical reactions and charge-related properties of living systems. "Recent developments in optical microscopy have created exciting new ways to investigate the structure and function of living cells, but directly 'seeing' molecules interacting in live cells remains a major challenge," said Moore Foundation program officer Dr. Gary Greenburg. "We believe the development of the plasmonic-based electrochemical impedance microscope will deliver novel, label-free imaging capabilities that do not currently exist and will have a major impact on our fundamental understanding of how cells work."