A new fluorescence microscopy technique that generates super-resolution images from a single camera exposure could help researchers study rapid movements within cells that are difficult to capture with existing methods.

Super-resolution microscopy has transformed cell biology by allowing scientists to see cellular structures and details that are too small to be imaged clearly with conventional light microscopes. Some methods achieve super-resolution by combining information from hundreds or thousands of image frames taken over time.

However, this works best when biological samples like cells or tissues have been fixed, or preserved with chemicals. Otherwise, structures like mitochondria, microtubules and DNA—which are constantly moving, changing and interacting—appear blurry using existing super-resolution techniques.