Thing 9: Streaming Video

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1588

This video shows actual footage of a restriction enzyme from a bacterial cell as it cuts viral DNA that has entered the cell.

I am amazed at the power of the microscope that was used to obtain these images. It says it was done in Japan, and is one of only three microscopes of its kind in the world. The internet is such a useful tool in this case because neither I nor my students would ever have known it existed without streaming video.

I always teach students that proteins are "little machines" that do all sorts of work in our cells, with this video it is possible to show the work they do in real time.