Biologists once depended on the light microscope to study the morphology of cells found in higher plants and animals. The functioning of cells in unicellular and in multicellular organisms was then postulated from observation of the structure; the discovery of the chloroplastids in the cell, for example, led to the investigation of the process of photosynthesis. With the invention of the electron microscope, the fine organization of the plastids could be used for further quantitative studies of the different parts of that process.
Qualitative and quantitative analyses in biology make use of a variety of techniques and approaches to identify and estimate levels of nucleic acids, proteins, carbohydrates, and other chemical constituents of cells and tissues. Many such techniques make use of antibodies or probes that bind to specific molecules within cells and that are tagged with a chemical, commonly a fluorescent dye, a radioactive isotope, or a biological stain, thereby enabling or enhancing microscopic visualization or detection of the molecules of interest.
Chemical labels are powerful means by which biologists can identify, locate, or trace substances in living matter. Some examples of widely used assays that incorporate labels include the Gram stain, which is used for the identification and characterization of bacteria; fluorescence in situ hybridization, which is used for the detection of specific genetic sequences in chromosomes; and luciferase assays, which measure bioluminescence produced from luciferin-luciferase reactions, allowing for the quantification of a wide array of molecules.
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