Optical tweezers: Empowering biology with the force of light

A number of scientists gathered at the International Symposium on Optical Tweezers in Life Sciences, held in Berlin, Germany in May, 2009 to discuss about various applications of optical tweezers including biological sciences. A group of researchers from the Institute of Atomic and Molecular Physics in Amsterdam, the Netherlands revealed that they were investigating the process of growth of dynamic protein polymers by attaching microtubules to beads that were trapped with optical tweezers. Another research team from the Medical Research Council in London, UK, revealed that it was investigating the movement of motor proteins along acting filaments using optical tweezers. These researchers demonstrated that one of the beads was trapped using optical tweezers, while the second was captured with the suction from a micropipette.