Single-molecule biophysics

TL;DR

Single-molecule biophysics employs advanced techniques to study individual biomolecules, revealing heterogeneity and dynamic behaviors that are obscured in ensemble measurements, thereby advancing understanding of biological processes and inspiring new physics.

Contribution

This paper reviews innovative single-molecule techniques and their application to uncover molecular heterogeneity and dynamics, bridging empirical data with theoretical insights in biology.

Findings

Single-molecule methods reveal heterogeneity in biomolecular behavior.

Technological innovations enable detailed exploration of molecular interactions.

Insights from this field inform the development of biologically inspired physics.

Abstract

Biological molecules, like all active matter, use free energy to generate force and motion which drive them out of thermal equilibrium, and undergo inherent dynamic interconversion between metastable free energy states separated by levels barely higher than stochastic thermal energy fluctuations. Here, we explore the founding and emerging approaches of the field of single-molecule biophysics which, unlike traditional ensemble average approaches, enable the detection and manipulation of individual molecules and facilitate exploration of biomolecular heterogeneity and its impact on transitional molecular kinetics and underpinning molecular interactions. We discuss the ground-breaking technological innovations which scratch far beyond the surface into open questions of real physiology, that correlate orthogonal data types and interplay empirical measurement with theoretical and computational insights, many of which are enabling artificial matter to be designed inspired by biological systems. And finally, we examine how these insights are helping to develop new physics framed around biology.