Commentary in 2011

Zinc-finger nuclease dimers are more difficult to engineer than single DNA-binding domains, but the development of new methods could help.

Engineered nucleases have advanced the field of gene therapy with the promise of targeted genome modification as a treatment for human diseases. Here we discuss why engineered nucleases are an exciting research tool for gene editing and consider their applications to a range of biological questions.

Bioorthogonal chemistry allows a wide variety of biomolecules to be specifically labeled and probed in living cells and whole organisms. Here we discuss the history of bioorthogonal reactions and some of the most interesting and important advances in the field.

A diverse array of small molecule–based fluorescent probes is available for many different types of biological experiments. Here we examine the history of these probes and discuss some of the most interesting applications.

In recent years, single-molecule force spectroscopy techniques have been used to study how inter- and intramolecular interactions control the assembly and functional state of biomolecular machinery in vitro. Here we discuss the problems and challenges that need to be addressed to bring these technologies into living cells and to learn how cellular machinery is controlled in vivo.