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BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES
Even if the tissue sample is in the resolution range for optical microscopy or
if it is possible to treat the sample without damaging it, these microscopes do
not provide specific height information about the sample. The skin cross
section in this sample was treated and is obviously not still living material.
The sample shows, however, that even the soft tissue of skin can be scanned
in contact mode. Atomic force microscopy gives information about the
height of the structures that make up mammalian skin, even at very high
resolution.
Dynamic force microscopy provides a method to explore the topography of
soft tissue at a very high magnification without damaging the sample, since
there is much less applied force. The fact that dynamic force microscopy can
be performed with the sample submerged in solution means that skin samples (or other living samples) may be scanned without treating, or damaging
them. AFM is currently being used to study DNA, RNA, proteins and individual living cells. One of the keys to studying biology is understanding that
structure is related to function. The functions of certain proteins, cells, etc.
are unknown, but the opportunity to explore the microscopic structure of
living material offers many clues as to specific cellular functions.
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