Dynamics of individual deoxyribonucleic acid molecules visualized in situ with shear strain

Many groups have investigated macromolecular dynamics under strain in the past due to its importance in numerous fields. The prediction of the conformation of individual molecules in shear is still heartily discussed today. We report the first real-time imaging of the dynamics of individual DNA molecules under a well-defined shear flow. Individual DNA molecules are placed under a shear flow while visualizing their complex dynamic conformations in real-time. DNA molecules are larger than the micrometer scale and thus can be visualized using optical microscopy via fluorochromes. This novel experiment allows us to understand the structural deformations of individual DNA molecules. This opens up a new world of real-time visualization of individual polymers under shear and reveals a completely new and fundamental insight into the behavior of individual polymers under shear with potential applications in fields from biology, to mechanics, to medicine