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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...

$X-ray Diffraction of Biological Samples$ 01:10

X-ray Diffraction of Biological Samples

X-ray diffraction or XRD is an analytical tool that utilizes X-rays to study ordered structures such as crystalline organic and inorganic samples, polycrystalline materials, proteins, carbohydrates, and drugs.
According to Bragg's law, when X-rays strike the sample positioned on a stage, the rays are scattered by the electron clouds around the sample atoms. The X-ray diffraction or scattering is caused by constructive interference of the X-ray waves that reflect off the internal...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 11, 2026

$Crystallization of Proteins on Chip by Microdialysis for In Situ X-ray Diffraction Studies$

Crystallization of Proteins on Chip by Microdialysis for In Situ X-ray Diffraction Studies

Published on: April 11, 2021

Microcrystals in structural biology: small samples, big insights.

Dominik Oberthür¹

¹Center for Free-Electron Laser Science CFEL, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestr. 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany.

|April 28, 2025

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Microcrystals are revolutionizing structural biology, offering high-resolution data from tiny samples. Advances in microfocus X-ray and MicroED techniques provide powerful, complementary tools for macromolecular crystallography.

Keywords:

MicroED macromolecular crystallography microcrystals serial crystallography structural biology time-resolved studies

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$Microcrystallography of Protein Crystals and In Cellulo Diffraction$

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Published on: July 21, 2017

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 11, 2026

$Crystallization of Proteins on Chip by Microdialysis for In Situ X-ray Diffraction Studies$

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Published on: April 11, 2021

$Microfluidic Chips for In Situ Crystal X-ray Diffraction and In Situ Dynamic Light Scattering for Serial Crystallography$

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Published on: April 24, 2018

$Microcrystallography of Protein Crystals and In Cellulo Diffraction$

Microcrystallography of Protein Crystals and In Cellulo Diffraction

Published on: July 21, 2017

Area of Science:

Structural Biology
Biophysics
Crystallography

Background:

Macromolecular crystallography traditionally requires large crystals.
Many biological samples are difficult to crystallize in sufficient size.
Advances in X-ray sources and detectors have enabled new approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

To highlight recent advancements in microcrystal analysis.
To emphasize the complementary nature of microfocus X-ray and MicroED.
To showcase the potential of these techniques in structural biology.

Main Methods:

Microfocus X-ray diffraction.
Microcrystal Electron Diffraction (MicroED).
Analysis of small crystalline samples.

Main Results:

High-resolution structural data can be obtained from microcrystals.
Time-resolved studies are becoming feasible with microcrystal techniques.
Microfocus X-ray and MicroED offer synergistic capabilities.

Conclusions:

Microcrystal-based methods are expanding the scope of structural biology.
These techniques overcome limitations of traditional crystallography for small samples.
Microfocus X-ray and MicroED are becoming essential tools for modern structural studies.