  In recent years molecular elasticity has emerged as an active area of
research: there are experiments that probe mechanical properties of single
biomolecules such as DNA and Actin, with a view to understanding the role of
elasticity of these polymers in biological processes such as transcription and
protein-induced DNA bending. Single molecule elasticity has thus emerged as an
area where there is a rich cross-fertilization of ideas between biologists,
chemists and theoretical physicists. In this article we present a perspective
on this field of research.
