In this video, we're going to continue to talk about light microscopes that detect fluorescence by briefly introducing super resolution microscopes or SRMs. And so what's important to note is that up until 2014, when the super resolution microscopes were first developed, the maximum resolution for light microscopes before 2014 was only about 0.2 micrometers, which means that objects had to be at least 0.2 micrometers apart from one another in order to distinguish them as separate objects. Now, 0.2 micrometers might seem like a pretty good resolution. However, in comparison to super resolution microscopes, really 0.2 micrometers is nothing. And this is because super resolution microscopes, or SRMs, are fluorescence light microscopes with a very high resolution of about 0.01 micrometers, which means that two objects could be 0.01 micrometers apart, and you can still distinguish them as being separate objects, and so this 0.01 micrometer resolution is about 20 times greater or 20 times better resolution in comparison to other light microscopes.

Now, the super resolution microscopes, or the SRMs, use very complex mechanisms in order to visualize molecules that would otherwise be way too close together to be seen as distinct objects, and sometimes these super resolution microscopes can allow for even a single molecule to be tracked within the cell, and that is how great of a resolution these super resolution microscopes can provide, allowing us to see a lot more detail more clearly.

If we take a look at our image below, we can clear up some of these ideas. Notice on the left-hand side of our image, we're focused on the normal resolution fluorescent microscopy that would have existed before 2014, before the super resolution microscope was developed. Notice here we are essentially comparing the normal resolution fluorescent microscopy to an old television set, maybe from the '80s or '90s. The old television set is not going to provide as much detail, and notice that our cartoon character here is saying, "What am I looking at?". It's kind of difficult to see; the image is a little blurry, not so great of a resolution.

On the right-hand side of our image, we're showing you the super resolution fluorescence microscopy, which we're comparing to a flat-screen HDTV that's high quality and has a great amazing resolution. The image is going to come out much more crisp and much clearer. Notice our cartoon character is saying, "Oh, now I can see.". The bovine endothelial cell that's visualized using the super resolution microscope is going to show a lot more detail, a lot more clarity, and a lot higher and better resolution.

This here concludes our brief introduction to super resolution microscopes or SRMs, and we'll be able to get some practice applying these concepts and learn more as we move forward. So, I'll see you all in our next video.