The fluorescence light microscope has long been an invaluable tool for cell biologists. Recent technological advances have made it possible to distinguish cellular objects below the diffraction limit of about 200 nm, but such superresolution methods often require capturing thousands of frames or exposure to intense light, which can photobleach fluorescent probes and damage biological samples. E. Hesper Rego et al. (pp. 661-662) overcome these constraints by improving an established fluorescence microscopy technique called nonlinear structured-illumination microscopy (NL-SIM). The technique previously enabled a resolution of about 50 nm on a fluorescent bead sample but its usefulness in analyzing biological samples was limited because of the high light intensity required.
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