Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a cryomicroscopy technique applied on samples cooled to cryogenic temperatures. For biological specimens, the structure is preserved by embedding in an environment of vitreous ice. An aqueous sample solution is applied to a grid-mesh and plunge-frozen in liquid ethane or a mixture of liquid ethane and propane. While development of the technique began in the 1970s, recent advances in detector technology and software algorithms have allowed for the determination of biomolecular structures at near-atomic resolution. This has attracted wide attention to the approach as an alternative to X-ray crystallography or NMR spectroscopy for macromolecular structure determination without the need for crystallization. In 2017, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank, and Richard Henderson "for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution." Nature Methods also named cryo-EM as the "Method of the Year" in 2015. The Federal Institute of Technology, the University of Lausanne and the University of Geneva opened the Dubochet Center For Imaging (DCI) at the end of November 2021, for the purposes of applying and further developing cryo-EM. Less than a month after the first identification of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, researchers at the DCI were able to define its structure, identify the crucial mutations to circumvent individual vaccines and provide insights for new therapeutic approaches. The Danish National cryo-EM Facility also known as EMBION was inaugurated on December 1st 2016. EMBION is a cryo-EM consortium between Danish Universities (Aarhus University host and University of Copenhagen co-host). Transmission electron cryomicroscopy Cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) is a transmission electron microscopy technique that is used in structural biology and materials science.

About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Related courses (20)
MSE-352: Introduction to microscopy + Laboratory work
Ce cours d'introduction à la microscopie a pour but de donner un apperçu des différentes techniques d'analyse de la microstructure et de la composition des matériaux, en particulier celles liées aux m
MSE-450: Electron microscopy: advanced methods
With this course, the student will learn advanced methods in transmission electron microscopy, especially what is the electron optical setup involved in the acquisition, and how to interpret the data.
BIO-603(SH): Practical - Stahlberg Lab
Cryo-electron microscopy structural analysis of proteins. The course aims at demonstrating the workflow from sample purification to determining the atomic structure of a soluble or membrane protein.
Show more
Related lectures (161)
Intermediate Electron Microscopy Test
Explores parameters impacting probe size in electron microscopy and different detectors for contrast optimization.
Nanowaste: Nanomaterials and Nanoparticles in Solid Waste Engineering
Delves into nanomaterials and nanoparticles in solid waste, covering trends, microscopy, motion, diffraction, and video creation.
TEM Lenses: Condenser, Objective, and ProjectorMOOC: Transmission Electron Microscopy for Materials Sciences
Explores the roles of condenser, objective, and projector lenses in a TEM.
Show more
Related publications (1,000)

Microsecond Time-Resolved Cryo-Electron Microscopy

Oliver Florian Harder

Recently, single-particle cryo-electron microscopy emerged as a technique capable of determining protein structures at near-atomic resolution and resolving protein dynamics with a temporal resolution ranging from second to milliseconds. This thesis describ ...
EPFL2024

Structure-function analysis of the cyclic β-1,2-glucan synthase from Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Henning Paul-Julius Stahlberg, Dongchun Ni

The synthesis of complex sugars is a key aspect of microbial biology. Cyclic beta-1,2-glucan (C beta G) is a circular polysaccharide critical for host interactions of many bacteria, including major pathogens of humans (Brucella) and plants (Agrobacterium). ...
Nature Portfolio2024

Engineered Phenylalanine Ammonia-Lyases for the Enantioselective Synthesis of Aspartic Acid Derivatives

Xile Hu, Ivan Buslov

Biocatalytic hydroamination of alkenes is an efficient and selective method to synthesize natural and unnatural amino acids. Phenylalanine ammonia-lyases (PALs) have been previously engineered to access a range of substituted phenylalanines and heteroaryla ...
Wiley-V C H Verlag Gmbh2024
Show more
Related concepts (16)
Protein Data Bank
The Protein Data Bank (PDB) is a database for the three-dimensional structural data of large biological molecules, such as proteins and nucleic acids. The data, typically obtained by X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, or, increasingly, cryo-electron microscopy, and submitted by biologists and biochemists from around the world, are freely accessible on the Internet via the websites of its member organisations (PDBe, PDBj, RCSB, and BMRB). The PDB is overseen by an organization called the Worldwide Protein Data Bank, wwPDB.
Proteopedia
Proteopedia is a wiki, 3D encyclopedia of proteins and other molecules. The site contains a page for every entry in the Protein Data Bank (>130,000 pages), as well as pages that are more descriptive of protein structures in general such as acetylcholinesterase, hemoglobin, and the photosystem II with a Jmol view that highlights functional sites and ligands. It employs a scene-authoring tool so that users do not have to learn JSmol script language to create customized molecular scenes.
Electron crystallography
Electron crystallography is a method to determine the arrangement of atoms in solids using a transmission electron microscope (TEM). It can involve the use of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy images, electron diffraction patterns including convergent-beam electron diffraction or combinations of these. It has been successful in determining some bulk structures, and also surface structures. Two related methods are low-energy electron diffraction which has solved the structure of many surfaces, and reflection high-energy electron diffraction which is used to monitor surfaces often during growth.
Show more
Related MOOCs (4)
Transmission Electron Microscopy for Materials Sciences
Learn about the fundamentals of transmission electron microscopy in materials sciences: you will be able to understand papers where TEM has been used and have the necessary theoretical basis for takin
Transmission Electron Microscopy for Materials Sciences
Learn about the fundamentals of transmission electron microscopy in materials sciences: you will be able to understand papers where TEM has been used and have the necessary theoretical basis for takin
Synchrotrons and X-Ray Free Electron Lasers (part 1)
Synchrotrons and X-Ray Free Electron Lasers (part 1)
Show more

Graph Chatbot

Chat with Graph Search

Ask any question about EPFL courses, lectures, exercises, research, news, etc. or try the example questions below.

DISCLAIMER: The Graph Chatbot is not programmed to provide explicit or categorical answers to your questions. Rather, it transforms your questions into API requests that are distributed across the various IT services officially administered by EPFL. Its purpose is solely to collect and recommend relevant references to content that you can explore to help you answer your questions.