Ultra-strong microscopes open doors to scientific innovation

China is now capable of creating super-resolution optical microscopes that can see objects a mere 50 nanometers wide. This allows scientists to observe subtle molecular processes within cells in real time, potentially aiding in the development of new drugs.

Traditional light microscopes are useful for investigating small objects and structures, but they lack precision when the space between objects is smaller than half the wavelength of light used to view them, at which point the two objects can blur into one.

This issue is called the diffraction limit. Since 2000, this challenge has been gradually solved with the advent of super-resolution microscopy, which allows scientists to see and track molecules in action within a living cell. This technique is so valuable for biology and medical research that the Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to three microscopy experts in 2014.