Noise and bandwidth performance of single-molecule biosensors

Technological advances in fluorescent probes, solid-state imagers, and microscopy techniques have enabled biomolecular studies at the single-molecule level. Fluorescent techniques are highly specific but their bandwidth is fundamentally limited by the number of photons that can be collected. New electronic sensors including nanopores and nanotube field-effect transistors offer different tradeoffs between bandwidth and noise levels. Here, we discuss the performance of these direct solid-state interfaces and their potential for sensing single-molecule dynamics at shorter timescales.