Fluorescence Microscopy

Abstract

Fluorescence microscopy is an imaging technique that relies upon the phenomenon that when certain molecules are exposed to light of a specific wavelength, those molecules will emit light of a lower energy and increased wavelength. This emitted signal is separated from the light used to illuminate the sample using optical filters and the signal collected to generate the image. Generally, fluorescent dyes-also referred to as fluorophores-are used to stain particular components of a sample, with the location of the fluorescence indicating the location of the constituent of interest. Many biological molecules are also intrinsically fluorescent, and this property can be exploited for imaging purposes without the need for additional fluorophores.