‘It opens up a whole new universe’: Revolutionary microscopy technique sees individual atoms for first time

‘It opens up a whole new universe’: Revolutionary microscopy technique sees individual atoms for first time



A Cryo-EM map of the protein apoferritin. (Paul Emsley/MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology)

See proteins’ individual atoms for first time

A game-changing technique for imaging molecules has produced its sharpest pictures yet — and, for the first time, has discerned individual atoms in a protein. The cryo-electron microscopy breakthrough, reported by two laboratories late last month, will ultimately help researchers to understand how proteins work in health and disease, and will lead to better drugs with fewer side effects. “It’s really a milestone, that’s for sure. There’s really nothing to break anymore. This was the last resolution barrier,” says biochemist and electron microscopist Holger Stark.

Nature | 5 min readReference: bioRxiv preprint 1 & bioRxiv preprint 2