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Nanotechnology

Tiny thermometers used in living cells

Nature volume 500, pages 36–37 (2013)Cite this article

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Nanometre-scale thermometers that operate with millikelvin sensitivity have now been made from diamond crystals. The devices have been used to measure temperature gradients in living cells. See Letter p.54

Despite many promising studies, taking temperature measurements of environments at nanometre-scale resolution remains a formidable challenge. On page 54 of this issue, Kucsko et al.1 report a precious solution to this problem: a thermometer based on diamond nanocrystals, also known as nanodiamonds. This sensing tool could have many applications, ranging from studies of cell biology to measurements of nanoscale chemical reactions.

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Figure 1: Temperature measurements in living cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Konstantin Sokolov is in the Department of Imaging Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.,

    Konstantin Sokolov

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  1. Konstantin Sokolov
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Correspondence to Konstantin Sokolov.

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Sokolov, K. Tiny thermometers used in living cells. Nature 500, 36–37 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/500036b

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