Challenges in Current Spectroscopic Methods
Despite their usefulness, these techniques come with challenges. Fluorescent tags can interfere with normal cell functions, and Raman signals are often very weak. Increasing the laser’s power or exposure time to strengthen the signal can damage sensitive biological molecules.
To overcome this, researchers have developed surface-enhanced versions of these methods using metal substrates or nanostructures to amplify the signal. However, these enhancements can also pose risks to cell integrity.