Applying single-molecule physics to ribosomes has become an exciting new way of learning about these transitions. There were a couple of ways to do this. One of them was to attach fluorescent molecules to different parts of the ribosome or tRNAs. By measuring the resulting fluorescence in a technique called fluorescence resonance energy transfer or FRET, you can measure if the fluorescent molecules had moved relative to one another. With the structures in hand, the method could be used to attach the fluorescent molecules to precise points on the ribosome, and you could tell which parts of the
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