Nucleic acid-based synthetic motors emulate key behaviors of biological machines, enabling applications in biosensing and nanoscale actuation. Among the reported synthetic motors, RNase H-powered moto...

Laser excitation of plasmonic particles represents an attractive avenue to tailor and catalyze surface chemical reactions at the nanoscale. However, it remains unclear how interfacial chemistry is cat...

We report that carbon quantum dots (CQDs) synthesized via a hydrothermal process using anthraquinone derivatives and l-cysteine provide versatile detection modes, making them suitable for various expe...

Despite improved sensitivity of nanothermometers, direct observation of heat transport inside single cells has remained challenging for the lack of high-speed temperature imaging techniques. Here, we ...

Inside cells, molecular motors transport cargo through a highly crowded cytoplasmic environment. While such an environment is assumed to hinder transport, its precise effect remains unclear. Here, we ...

Although metagenomic sequencing has revealed a rich microbial biodiversity in the mammalian gut, methods to genetically alter specific species in the microbiome are highly limited. Here, we introduce ...

npj Viruses - Virion motility of sialoglycan-cleaving respiratory viruses

Influenza viruses can move across the surface of host cells while interacting with their glycocalyx. This motility may assist in finding or forming locations for cell entry and thereby promote cellula...

Chair of ICBBS2026Sam-Yong Park (Yokohama City University)We are pleased to invite symposium proposals for International Conference on Biophysics and Biomedical Sciences (ICBBS2026).The Biophysical So...

High-sensitivity viral diagnostics typically use PCR to detect and amplify viral nucleic acids which requires fluorescence reporters, enzymatic amplification, specialized equipment and can be time-c...

YouTube video by The Biophysical Society of Japan

Consumer product companies have walked back their plastics sustainability goals, and many recyclers are closing their doors

The remarkable progress of artificial intelligence (AI) has revealed the enormous energy demands of modern digital architectures, raising deep concerns about sustainability. In stark contrast, the hum...

E. coli swims using helical flagellar filaments driven at their base by a rotary motor. Torque-generating ‘stator’ units drive the bacterial flagellar motor (BFM) by transmitting mechanical power to a...

The 2026 Gordon Research Conference on Single Molecule Approaches to Biology will be held in Les Diablerets, Vaud (fr) Switzerland. Apply today to reserve your spot.

We provide detailed experimental guidelines for implementing digital holography in the context of high-sensitivity interferometric scattering (iSCAT)-based nanosizing applications. Our approach relies on interferometry via the highly versatile off-axis implementation of digital holography, which offers key advantages over more traditional strategies. After a brief theoretical discussion of off-axis holography and its differences and similarities with iSCAT, typical experimental implementations and digital data-processing steps are presented. Key experimental parameters and strategies to achieve optimal performance are also highlighted. Following these experimental aspects, we focus on digital postprocessing routines that enable digital refocusing and 3D particle tracking as well as pupil function aberration correction. We then conclude with a few examples highlighting the broad applicability of digital holography for nanosizing and particle characterization applications, as well as an outlook for future applications.

Cryo-EM snapshots of the ATP synthase driven by proton motive force reveal the torsional deformation during ATP synthesis.

Molecular machine properties such as speed, efficiency, power, and torque depend upon particular features of structure, mechanism, and chemistry. The graphical abstract shows a Top Trumps-style repres...