Method to Watch in 2013

Precise alterations to the epigenome with targeted enzymes.

Biologists need methods for sequencing genetic material directly from intact tissues.

For some applications, a crowd of people is superior to the best computational tools available.

Single-particle electron cryomicroscopy reaches for atomic resolution.

A boost to neuroscience technology development could be transformative.

Small, genetically encoded probes for real-time detection and perturbation of cellular events are gaining attention.

Imaging-based sensors are used to map mechanical forces exerted by cells.

Tissue-like organoids with surprisingly complex structures can be formed by stem cells in vitro.

Microscopes that render tissue-volume images from single snapshots are making their way into biology.

Automated classifiers speed up biological phenotyping.

2013 will see the first commercial nanopore sequencers.

Development of genetically encoded tools with absorption and emission spectra in the near infrared is worth the trouble.

Attempts to replicate the stem cell microenvironment in the culture dish continue.

Mass spectrometry technology to detect and characterize large, intact protein complexes is becoming more accessible.

In studies of microbiome function, marker sequencing will be balanced by alternative profiling approaches.

Nitrogen vacancy center defects in diamonds confer remarkably useful properties.