Imagine the vast chemical complexity that exists within each of our cells.
Concentrations of DNA, RNA, proteins, lipids, and metabolites
range from a single molecule to billions – and molecular weights
cross more than six orders of magnitude. A molecule may
disappear almost as soon as it appears, or may long outlast the
cell in which it originated. How can we capture a snapshot
of just one cell ’s intricate inner workings?By Marina C. Philip and Jonathan V. Sweedler