Aaron Blanchard

Finally, we demonstrate that dark quenchers can also be used to quench FluoroCube fluorescence (with, in our study, up to 90% quenching efficiency), opening the door up for use of FluoroCubes in a useful class of conditional quenching techniques. (8/10)

We correctly predicted that we could further decrease FluoroCube size by 50% while still retaining high photostability. These new mini-FluoroCubes are similar in size to GFP, and could probably be loaded with four or more (photostabilized) dyes. (6/10)

We were surprised to see that 4-dye FluoroCubes emitted more photons than the original 6-dye FluoroCube design! The 4-dye FluoroCubes also exhibited fewer intensity fluctuations, making their performance superior overall. (Read paper to find out why 😉) (5/10)

We performed single molecule photobleaching studies on each FluoroCube design. Surprisingly, the photobleaching rate (k1 in figure) didn’t change with the number of dyes, suggesting that photostabilization depends only on dye-DNA interactions (not dye-dye interactions). (4/10)

1 year later I’m a postdoc in the @NilsWalterLab – the perfect environment for single molecule fluorescence imaging research! There, we designed a bunch of different DNA FluoroCubes with between 1 and 6 fluorophores attached to different positions. (3/10)

In the comments of that tweet, I and others discussed dye-DNA and dye-dye interactions as two potential mechanisms through which such incredible photostabilization was achieved. The paper contained data supporting both. I couldn’t stop thinking about this question. (2/10)

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It's called climate change activism

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