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Nanoruler
Order and Light

Zeiss Elyra S1 Super Resolution Structured Illumination Microscope

Mayandi Sivaguru

IGB Core Facilities

Funded by the University of Illinois
Much like some of the brighter stars in our night sky, a closer look might reveal that the points of light scattered across this image are actually pairs of bright spots, not singular ones. They are created by attaching two dye molecules to specially designed DNA fragments that fold origami-like into a standardized structure. Being able to image the two bright spots distinctly on this “ruler” tells microscopists the resolution of their instrument.