Nanoslinky Graphic (IMAGE)

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Nanoslinky Graphic

Caption

This is a schematic showing the motion of a DNA molecule descending a nanofluidic staircase by entropophoresis (top). The illustration is overlaid on a micrograph of the actual staircase. Lightwave interference gives each step a different color. Corresponding fluorescence micrographs (bottom) show how the DNA molecule contracts as the depth increases from about 4 nanometers (about 20 times bigger than a water molecule) at the left to about 342 nanometers at the deepest step on the right. The images of the DNA molecule are blurred and pixelated, making it appear larger than it is. These imaging errors are estimated and corrected in the final analysis of the size of the molecule.

Credit

Elizabeth Strychalski and Samuel Stavis/NIST

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