A groundbreaking technique known as cryogenic electron microscopy or cryo-EM has been used by Arizona State University researchers in a new approach to studying molecules of life.
Examining not only their static structures at high resolution but the all-important dynamic movements of such molecules as they carry out biological functions, molecules targeted for study are flash-frozen in a thin membrane of ice before being subjected to electron microscopy.
Tens or even hundreds of thousands of still images are collected, then reassembled by means of computer.
The technique offers a powerful alternative to X-ray crystallography for probing the molecular world in keen detail.
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