Biophotonics is a special course that introduces students to modern methods of optical microscopy and microspectroscopy and their applications for solving research, analytical and applied problems in the field of biophysics, bioengineering, biomedicine and nanobiotechnology.
The successful development of modern research in biology and related fields of science is inextricably linked with the improvement of physical and chemical methods of analysis, among which modern methods of fluorescence microscopy occupy an important place. Wide-field fluorescence microscopy and laser scanning confocal microscopy significantly supplemented and expanded the capabilities of white light microscopy and became widely popular and familiar methods for biologists. During the course of lectures, the principles and methods of applying these methods will be discussed, as well as the arrangement of modern microscopes with which these methods are implemented.
The possibilities of fluorescence microscopy methods and the results of their application depend on the properties of fluorophores, the possibility of their introduction into the studied molecules and structures, or their use as molecular probes that detect specified reactions or processes. The course of lectures discusses modern molecular tools for fluorescence microscopy based on organic fluorophores and fluorescent proteins.
Over the past ten years, a number of new developments in the field of fluorescence microscopy have appeared in the arsenal of researchers. New developments are the product of high technologies and are based on the latest achievements in optics, laser physics, electronics and computer technology. The methods discussed in this course of lectures include: fluorescence microscopy with excitation based on the effect of total internal reflection, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and microscopy, fluorescence microscopy with multiphoton excitation, light sheet microscopy and ultra-high resolution microscopy methods, including microscopy of single molecules and complexes. Each of these types of microscopy expands the possibilities of research in its own way, but requires proper application and has a number of limitations that you need to know.
The course will cover the features of the instrument support of these methods, as well as areas of research with their application.
- Преподаватель: Алексей Феофанов