Abstract: Super-resolution microscopy has opened up a new frontier in which biological structures and behavior can be observed in fixed and live cells with resolutions down to 20-40 nm and below.  Examples range from protein superstructures in bacteria to bands in axons to details of the shapes of amyloid fibrils, cell surface sugars, protein superstructures in the primary cilium, and much more.  For super-resolution imaging in thick cells, a new tilted light sheet design makes use of PSF engineering to create a simple, useful microscope. Low temperature single-molecule imaging provides much improved localization precision in order to complement cryo-electron tomography studies. Additional methods development research addresses ways to use ideas from machine learning and convolutional neural nets to enhance image processing of single-molecule data. Combining super-resolution imaging of a static structure with 3D tracking of other biomolecules provides a powerful view of cellular dynamics.

Bio: W. E. (William Esco) Moerner, the Harry S. Mosher Professor of Chemistry and Professor by courtesy of Applied Physics, has conducted research in physical chemistry, biophysics, and the optical properties of single molecules, and is actively involved in the development of 2D and 3D super-resolution imaging for cell biology. Professor Moerner attended Washington University as a Langsdorf Engineering Fellow, graduating in 1975 with degrees in Physics and Electrical Engineering (both B.S. with top honors), and Mathematics (A.B. summa cum laude). His doctoral research in physics at Cornell University (M.S. 1978, Ph.D. 1982) employed tunable infrared lasers to explore infrared vibrational modes of impurities in crystals. In 1982, he moved from New York to San Jose, California to join the IBM Research Division developing spectral hole burning for frequency domain optical storage and photorefractivity for dynamic hologram formation. After 13 years at IBM, Dr. Moerner accepted a position as Distinguished Professor of Physical Chemistry at UC San Diego, where he broadened his research to include biological systems and biophysics. Recruited to the Stanford Chemistry Department faculty in 1997, he also served as Chair of the department from 2011 to 2014. Professor Moerner’s scientific contributions were recognized with the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy."