FRET Strangeness
It strikes me how strange FRET is. A fluorophore (donor) is happily absorbing photons and sprays most back in all directions. If another fluorophore (acceptor -- whose absortion spectrum significantly overlaps the donor's emission spectrum) is brought nearby, this energy can be directed at the acceptor. Somehow the donor "knows" where the acceptor is and is communicating directly with it. There is certainly percedence for this in EM theory, but it still suprises me.
posted by rrowv at
3:41 PM
3 Comments:
It's not that it knows the direction, right? FRET is a short-range, but non-directed form of energy transfer. It's not like sending a photon in a certain direction. It's a field interaction between two dipoles that can happen when they're sufficiently close…like London forces, or even like orbitals. Isn't that how they "communicate?"
By
Anonymous, at 12:27 AM
i guess one fluorophore 'knowing' the other's presence is just analogous to a positive charge 'knowing' another's presence and repelling it.
But i agree in that even a charge-charge repulsion (action at a distance) is wonderful if one thinks about it afresh!
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