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Articles on Cryo-electron microscopy

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This microscopy image shows the retina of a mouse, laid flat and made fluorescent. Kenyoung Kim, Wonkyu Ju and Mark Ellisman/National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research, University of California, San Diego via Flickr

Seeing what the naked eye can’t − 4 essential reads on how scientists bring the microscopic world into plain sight

Visualization is an essential part of the scientific process. Advances in imaging have enabled eye-opening discoveries, not only for scientists and researchers but also for the general public.
Imaging the proteins on the surface of HCV has been challenging because of the virus’s shape-shifting nature. Juan Gaertner/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

Scientists uncovered the structure of the key protein for a future hepatitis C vaccine – here’s how they did it

Using a Nobel Prize-winning technique called cryo-EM, researchers were able to identify potential areas on the hepatitis C virus that a vaccine could target.
A nanographene molecule imaged by noncontact atomic force microscopy. Patrik Tschudin/gross3HR/Wikimedia Commons

What do molecules look like?

A physicist explains how atoms arrange themselves into molecules – and how scientists are able to image these tiny bits of matter that make up everything around you.
The electron microscope’s resolution has radically improved in the last few years, from mostly showing shapeless blobs (left) in 2013 to now being able to visualise proteins at atomic resolution (right) in the present. Martin Högbom/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Life frozen in time under an electron microscope gets a Nobel Prize

The 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to scientists who developed a way to study biological molecules under an electron microscope.
Cryo-electron microscopy resolution continues to improve. Veronica Falconieri, Sriram Subramaniam, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health

Chilled proteins and 3-D images: The cryo-electron microscopy technology that just won a Nobel Prize

The 2017 Nobel Prize in chemistry goes to three scientists who revolutionized biochemistry by inventing a technology that can image the molecules of life without destroying them.

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