Xu Lance W Q, Pressé Steve
Center for Biological Physics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
Department of Physics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
ArXiv. 2025 Aug 19:arXiv:2508.13668v1.
Tracking single fluorescent molecules has offered resolution into dynamic molecular processes at the single-molecule level. This perspective traces the evolution of single-molecule tracking, highlighting key developments across various methodological branches within fluorescence microscopy. We compare the strengths and limitations of each approach, ranging from conventional widefield offline tracking to real-time confocal tracking. In the final section, we explore emerging efforts to advance physics-inspired tracking techniques, a possibility for parallelization and artificial intelligence, and discuss challenges and opportunities they present toward achieving higher spatiotemporal resolution and greater computational and data efficiency in next-generation single-molecule studies.
追踪单个荧光分子能够在单分子水平上解析动态分子过程。本文概述了单分子追踪技术的发展历程，重点介绍了荧光显微镜各方法分支中的关键进展。我们比较了每种方法的优缺点，范围从传统的宽场离线追踪到实时共聚焦追踪。在最后一部分，我们探讨了推进受物理启发的追踪技术的新进展、并行化和人工智能的可能性，并讨论了它们在下一代单分子研究中实现更高时空分辨率以及更高计算和数据效率方面所带来的挑战和机遇。
