Super-resolution fluorescence imaging of directly labelled DNA: from microscopy standards to living cells

Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy is ideally suited to study the complex organization of cell DNA in the 10-100 nm range. Novel methods to image directly labelled DNA, instead of DNA-associated proteins, are being developed and refined. This minireview provides an update of recent progress in super-resolution fluorescence imaging methods for DNA. These developments should allow a deeper understanding of chromatin structure and widen the scope of biological processes that may be investigated with super-resolution fluorescence microscopy.