Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Cryo-electron Microscopy

Cryo-electron Microscopy

Conventional electron microscopy (EM) involves dehydration, fixation, and staining of biological samples, which distorts the native state of biological molecules and results in several artifacts. Also, the high-energy electron beam damages the sample and makes it difficult to obtain high-resolution images. These issues can be addressed using cryo-EM, which uses frozen samples and gentler electron beams. The technique was developed by Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank, and Richard Henderson, for...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Candesartan cilexetil disrupts methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus membrane and potentiates gentamicin and polymyxin B activity.

Nature communications·2026

Same author

Primary cortical neurons precipitate and extrude large mitochondria-associated calcium-phosphate sheets with a bone-precursor-like ultrastructure.

Molecular brain·2026

Same author

The Inaugural Flatiron Institute Cryo-EM Conformational Heterogeneity Challenge.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025

Same author

Engineered exosomes with Kras<sup>G12D</sup> specific siRNA in pancreatic cancer: a phase I study with immunological correlates.

Nature communications·2025

Same author

Primary cortical neurons precipitate and extrude large mitochondria-associated calcium-phosphate sheets with a bone-precursor-like ultrastructure.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025

Same author

TomoScore: A Neural Network Approach for Quality Assessment of Cellular cryo-ET.

Research square·2025

Same journal

Ultrastructural evidence of autophagy-related processes and mitochondrial remodeling in the myxozoan parasite Henneguya piaractus.

Journal of structural biology·2026

Same journal

Architecture and dynamics of a supramolecular oxygen transport system in human homogentisate 1,2-Dioxygenase.

Journal of structural biology·2026

Same journal

Connecting pathways between mineralized fibrocartilage and bone at the Achilles tendon insertion.

Journal of structural biology·2026

Same journal

Structural and functional characterization of thermostable EstS1 esterase for BHET degradation.

Journal of structural biology·2026

Same journal

Following the white rabbit: multiscale 2D3D correlative imaging of bone structure.

Journal of structural biology·2026

Same journal

The mantis shrimp eye imaged in 3D using 4th generation synchrotron multiscale phase contrast tomography.

Journal of structural biology·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 7, 2025

Routine Collection of High-Resolution cryo-EM Datasets Using 200 KV Transmission Electron Microscope

Routine Collection of High-Resolution cryo-EM Datasets Using 200 KV Transmission Electron Microscope

Published on: March 16, 2022

Precision requirements and data compression in CryoEM/CryoET.

Adam C Fluty¹, Steven J Ludtke¹

¹Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, United States.

Journal of Structural Biology

|June 20, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

CryoEM data storage can be optimized by reducing bit precision for images. This strategy significantly decreases project sizes and enhances processing speed for CryoElectron Microscopy (CryoEM) data.

Keywords:

CryoET Data compression Hdf5 Image processing cryoEM

More Related Videos

Strategies for Optimization of Cryogenic Electron Tomography Data Acquisition

Strategies for Optimization of Cryogenic Electron Tomography Data Acquisition

Published on: March 19, 2021

A Robust Single-Particle Cryo-Electron Microscopy cryo-EM Processing Workflow with cryoSPARC, RELION, and Scipion

A Robust Single-Particle Cryo-Electron Microscopy cryo-EM Processing Workflow with cryoSPARC, RELION, and Scipion

Published on: January 31, 2022

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Sep 7, 2025

Routine Collection of High-Resolution cryo-EM Datasets Using 200 KV Transmission Electron Microscope

Routine Collection of High-Resolution cryo-EM Datasets Using 200 KV Transmission Electron Microscope

Published on: March 16, 2022

Strategies for Optimization of Cryogenic Electron Tomography Data Acquisition

Strategies for Optimization of Cryogenic Electron Tomography Data Acquisition

Published on: March 19, 2021

A Robust Single-Particle Cryo-Electron Microscopy cryo-EM Processing Workflow with cryoSPARC, RELION, and Scipion

A Robust Single-Particle Cryo-Electron Microscopy cryo-EM Processing Workflow with cryoSPARC, RELION, and Scipion

Published on: January 31, 2022

Area of Science:

Structural Biology
Biophysics
Data Science

Background:

CryoElectron Microscopy (CryoEM) generates vast datasets daily, requiring efficient storage and processing.
Current practices store CryoEM averages and derived images with excess bit precision (e.g., 32 bits), despite inherent noise.
This excess precision leads to large file sizes and slower processing speeds.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate safe bit truncation strategies for CryoEM data to reduce file sizes and improve processing efficiency.
To determine optimal bit precision levels for raw CryoEM movies, intermediate averages, and final 3-D structures.
To propose practical data discretization rules and compressed representations for CryoEM data.

Main Methods:

Utilized a propagation of uncertainty argument to justify bit truncation for flat-fielded images.
Applied lossless compression in conjunction with bit truncation.
Tested the proposed strategy on two standard, data-limited CryoEM datasets.

Main Results:

Demonstrated that bit truncation is safe for real-world CryoEM data.
Found 5 bits of precision sufficient for raw CryoEM data.
Determined 8-12 bits of precision adequate for intermediate averages and final 3-D structures.

Conclusions:

Reduced bit precision offers a viable method for optimizing CryoEM data storage and processing.
Specific bit precision recommendations (5 bits for raw, 8-12 bits for averages/structures) can significantly decrease project sizes.
Implementing these data discretization and compression strategies can enhance overall CryoEM workflow efficiency.