Who Needs A Fluorescence Microscope?
The work a fluorescence microscope does is not possible without the fluorophores. Fluorophores absorb light at a certain wavelength; fluorophores use this blast of short-wavelength but high energy light as their electrons get excited and shift to higher energy orbitals within the atom of the fluorophore. When the electrons return to their lower energy levels, they release a longer wavelength of light, at a lower energy, which forms the characteristic color of the fluorophore. It is this color that the fluorescence microscope selects for, and that which the fluorescence microscope user sees when he or she uses the instrument to visualize certain cell components. A fluorophore is bound, or conjugated, to a special molecule that can detect the presence of certain cell components. This molecule is usually an antibody, or a protein molecule that binds specifically to certain cell components. It is this antibody that dictates, in part, where fluorescence microscopy can be used. Immunology Di
