Artistic illustration of the new " nanoclamp " from DNA strands: The target molecule is clamped into a rigid DNA nanostructure (grey rods) via a spring made of single-stranded DNA (silver springs) (here a DNA 4-way crossing). The distortion of the structure caused by the force is optically detected. Graphic: Christoph Hohmann / LMU

This image is part of: Genes on the rack. Please note the copyright of this image.