Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 22, 2026
Preparing Lamellae from Vitreous Biological Samples Using a Dual-Beam Scanning Electron Microscope for Cryo-Electron Tomography
Published on: August 5, 2021
Cryo-electron microscopy of vitreous sections of native biological cells and tissues
Ashraf Al-Amoudi1, Lars P O Norlen, Jacques Dubochet
1Laboratoire d'Analyse Ultrastructurale, Bâtiment de Biologie, Université de Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Cryo-electron microscopy of vitreous sections (CEMOVIS) is, in principle, the ultimate method of specimen preparation. It consists in ultra-rapid cooling of a sizable sample of biological material that is cut into thin sections. These are subsequently observed at low temperature in their fully hydrated vitreous state. Here, we show that CEMOVIS reveals the native state of cells and tissues with unprecedented quality and resolution. What is seen differs considerably from what conventional electron microscopy has shown previously and it is seen with more details. Our findings are demonstrated with images of cyanobacteria and skin.
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Related Concept Videos
01:28Cryo-electron Microscopy
01:03Fixation and Sectioning
The simplest type of preparation is the wet mount, in which the specimen is placed in a drop of liquid on the slide. A liquid specimen can be directly deposited on the slide using a dropper. Solid specimens, such as skin scraping, can be placed on the slide before adding a drop of liquid to prepare the wet mount. Sometimes the liquid is simply water, but stains are often added...