Fluorescence microscopy is an important and extensively utilised tool for imaging biological systems. However, the image resolution that can be obtained has a limit as defined through the laws of diffraction. Demand for improved resolution has stimulated research into developing methods to image beyond the diffraction limit based on far-field fluorescence microscopy techniques. Rapid progress is being made in this area of science with methods emerging that enable fluorescence imaging in the

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... field to possess a resolution well beyond the diffraction limit. This review outlines developments in far-field fluorescence methods which enable ultrahigh resolution imaging and application of these techniques to biology. Future possible trends and directions in far-field fluorescence imaging with ultrahigh resolution are also outlined. James Rice was awarded his BSc and PhD from the University of Sussex and the Queen's University Belfast respectively. He has spent the following years applying optical spectroscopy and optical microscopy techniques to study a range of material systems at the Laboratoire Aimé Cotton, ( U n i v e r s i t y o f P a r i s ) , C l a r e n d o n L a b o r a t o r y , (University of Oxford) and the School of Chemical Sciences and Pharmacy, (University of East Anglia). He has been recently awarded a lectureship in the