Cell nanoprobes

[Tony Corless]

I am a physicist working in the general area of microfluidics.

I've been asked to find out as much as I can about techniques for
probing (the interiors of) cells. The particular interest is in where
the frontiers lie, what are the real challenges, the show-stoppers. What
would folk like to be able to probe but are unable to access.

The interest is primarily in techniques capable of use with live cells,
with a minimum of disturbance to the cell.

Clearly I can get, and have got, a lot of information on techniques such
as SERRS, on various fluorescent techniques etc. for optical imaging,
and various electron imaging techniques. There is also a fair bit on
patch clamping.

What is proving tough to get is information on where the various
techniques don't work, and particularly on what topics of potential
significance are not being addressed.

Having no biological background I am struggling a bit to separate the
biological wood from the trees. As such I would be appreciative of any
pointers to web sites or published articles that indicate the state-of-
the-art, and the areas that are worthy of further development.
-- 
Tony Corless