What is the purpose of cryo-em?

Cryo-EM has real potential as a tool for the biological sciences. Its ability to quickly and simply illuminate large and complex components makes it a profoundly useful addition to the arsenal of techniques that scientists use to explore the world and generate advances.

What is the difference between Cryo-EM and TEM?

Transmission electron cryomicroscopy (CryoTEM), commonly known as cryo-EM, is a form of cryogenic electron microscopy, more specifically a type of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) where the sample is studied at cryogenic temperatures (generally liquid-nitrogen temperatures).

Will Cryo-EM replace crystallography?

To conclude, cryo-EM will not replace crystallography, but the competition between these two techniques will drive innovation and specialization of these techniques to areas in which they excel.

Why is there no phase problem in cryo-em?

Furthermore, electron micrographs are real-space images containing both amplitude and phase information. Thus, cryo-EM structure determination does not have a “phase problem” as in X-ray crystallography, but its amplitudes are less accurate than that measured from X-ray diffractions.

What is the advantage of cryo electron tomography?

Compared with traditional structural biology methods such as X‐ray crystallography and NMR, cryo‐EM has the following advantages: (a) it does not need crystals; (b) it is suitable for proteins and their complexes of large molecular weight; (c) it reduces radiation damage and maintains the native activity and functional …

Is cryo-EM better than crystallography?

Likewise, crystallography is better equipped to provide high-resolution dynamic information as a function of time, temperature, pressure, and other perturbations, whereas cryo-EM offers increasing insight into conformational and energy landscapes, particularly as algorithms to deconvolute conformational heterogeneity …