Reliable vision in dim light depends on the efficient capture of photons. Moreover, visually guided behaviour requires reliable signals from the photoreceptors to generate appropriate motor reactions. Here, we show that at behavioural low-light threshold, cockroach photoreceptors respond to moving gratings with single-photon absorption events known as 'quantum bumps' at or below the rate of 0.1...

The understanding of mechanisms of higher brain functions expects a continuous reduction from higher activities to lower ones, eventually, to activities in individual neurons, expressed in terms of membrane potentials and ionic currents. While this approach is correct scientifically and desirable for applications, the complete range of the reduction is unavailable to a single researcher due to ...

We developed a system to reversibly encapsulate small numbers of molecules in an array of nanofabricated "dimples". This system enables highly parallel, long-term, and attachment-free studies of molecular dynamics via single-molecule fluorescence. In studies of bimolecular reactions of small numbers of confined molecules, we see phenomena that, while expected from basic statistical mechanics, a...

One of the most rapidly advancing areas in genomics in recent years has been the explosion of platforms to assess properties at the single-cell level. The driving force behind these advancements has been a renaissance of sorts in how we think about the architecture and heterogeneity present in a population of cells (1, 2). While these concepts are not new, the advancement of technologies to ass...

The timing of a cellular event often hides critical information on the process leading to the event. Our ability to measure event times in single cells along with other quantities allow us to learn about the drivers of the timed process and its downstream effects. In this review, we cover different types of events that have been timed in single cells, methods to time such events and types of an...