Primordial Groove

Here.

Is this saying scientists will be able to actually see the cell work?

Gooch's dad

Well, not with this technique, or at least not for a long time.

You have to get the gold whisker quite close to the object you're trying to image, which I am guessing is why they say it will work on cell membranes (but not mentioning inner workings of the cell).

I could envision the technique being expanded to use inside a cell, though, by using Raman scattering off of a tiny gold-coated microsphere, which is moved to the area in question using laser tweezers.

It is a rather impressive demonstration of how to extend the range of optical techniques. Using visible light, you can't image anything much smaller than a micron, and they're getting details that are 1/40 that size, and their goal is to get to 1/200 of a micron. Not only do they get physical structure information, they get Raman spectral information, which tells you something about the molecular bonds.

Very cool laser stuff indeed!

-Kelly