Stretching,Tearing, and Dissecting Single Molecules of DNA

Optical tweezers, bendable microneedles, and scanning force microscope probes make it possible to play with individual molecules of DNA, to stretch them beyond their natural length, to unzip and pull apart their strands (see schematic diagram), and to dissect them to create new molecules in situ. Depending on the method of measurement, the mechanical force necessary to separate the strands was in the range of 10–50 pN per base pair.