Live mitochondria seen in unprecedented detail: photobleaching in STED microscopy overcome
(PHYSorg.com Chemistry)

Light microscopy is the only way in which we can look inside a living cell, or living tissues, in three dimensions. An electron microscope only gives a two-dimensional view, and the organic sample would quickly burn up due to the extreme heat of the electron beam, and therefore cannot be observed alive. Moreover, by marking the biomolecules of the structure we are interested in with a specially designed fluorescent molecule, we can distinguish it from the surroundings: this is fluorescence microscopy.