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Introduction to Fluorescence

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Principles of Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Abstract

During the past 20 years there has been a remarkable growth in the use of fluorescence in the biological sciences. Fluorescence spectroscopy and time-resolved fluorescence are considered to be primarily research tools in biochemistry and biophysics. This emphasis has changed, and the use of fluorescence has expanded. Fluorescence is now a dominant methodology used extensively in biotechnology, flow cytometry, medical diagnostics, DNA sequencing, forensics, and genetic analysis, to name a few. Fluorescence detection is highly sensitive, and there is no longer the need for the expense and difficulties of handling radioactive tracers for most biochemical measurements. There has been dramatic growth in the use of fluorescence for cellular and molecular imaging. Fluorescence imaging can reveal the localization and measurements of intracellular molecules, sometimes at the level of single-molecule detection.

Fluorescence technology is used by scientists from many disciplines. This volume describes the principles of fluorescence that underlie its uses in the biological and chemical sciences. Throughout the book we have included examples that illustrate how the principles are used in different applications.

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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Fluorescence Spectroscopy, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA

    Joseph R. Lakowicz

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© 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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(2006). Introduction to Fluorescence. In: Lakowicz, J.R. (eds) Principles of Fluorescence Spectroscopy. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-46312-4_1

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