STM and AFM of bio/organic molecules and structures

Abstract Applications of scanning tunneling and atomic force microscopes in bio/organic researches are reviewed with a special emphasis on the types of researches that are expected to contribute to the creation of a new field of “single molecule biochemistry” in the near future. The reviewed articles within the scope as stated above actually include a fairly broad spectrum of researches. It is, therefore, a hope of the author that this review will be useful to those who are considering biological applications of the probe microscopy techniques but are not quite familiar with the types of experiments that have been done in the past. In the section on scanning tunneling microscopy, identification of chemically distinct functional groups by the difference in their tunneling properties will be discussed as a main focus because it is fundamental for biochemists to identify molecules by their shapes and properties. In the section on atomic force microscopy, recent progresses in the imaging techniques of proteins and DNAs are closely reviewed, and rapidly advancing technologies of single molecule measurements and manipulation of nanometer sized structures are given extensive coverage because the author considers that such new applications are extremely promising to open an entirely new field in biological sciences.