Word: flagella
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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OPTICAL TWEEZERS. With a single beam of infrared laser light, scientists can seize and manipulate everything from DNA molecules to bacteria and yeast without harming them. Among other things, optical tweezers can keep a tiny organism swimming in place while scientists study its paddling flagella under a microscope. Optical tweezers can also reach right through cell membranes to grab specialized structures known as organelles and twirl them around. Currently, researchers are using the technology to measure the mechanical force exerted by a single molecule of myosin, one of the muscle proteins responsible for motion. Scientists are also examining the swimming...