The Future is Bright: The Emergence of Glassy Organic Dots for Biological Applications

Glassy organic dots (g-Odots) are an emerging class of luminescent nanoparticles that offer enhanced photostability, superior brightness, and modular tunability compared to other commonly employed nanoparticles. In the last several years, they have been used as bioimaging probes for single- and multi-photon cellular imaging, exhibiting low cytotoxicity even after several days. While they are emerging as promising materials for use in biological applications, g-Odots face several key challenges before their use can become widespread. In this concept, we outline the state of the literature on g-Odots and highlight a few ways in which their design and use can be improved upon.