Ultrabright laser enables cryo-EM phase contrast breakthrough for imaging smaller proteins

Summary

Physicist Holger Müller has developed a new ultrabright laser technology that advances cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) by enabling phase contrast imaging, a technique 15 years in the making. This breakthrough allows researchers to visualize smaller proteins and molecular structures that were previously too small or low-contrast to be seen with conventional cryo-EM methods. The advancement, supported by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), has significant implications for structural biology and could drive progress in in-cell proteomics, potentially transforming our understanding of biological processes at the molecular level.

Source

bskyUltrabright laser enables cryo-EM phase contrast breakthrough for imaging smaller proteinscen.acs.org