Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson won the 2017 Nobel prize for developing cryo-electron microscopy

Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson  won the 2017 Nobel prize for developing cryo-electron microscopy

Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), or electron cryomicroscopy, is a form of transmission electron microscopy (TEM)

Here  the sample is studied at cryogenic temperatures (generally liquid-nitrogen temperatures) 

The development of cryo-electron microscopy leads to simplification and improvement of  the image of biomolecules.

Cryo-EM makes it possible to portray biomolecules after freezing them very fast (vitrification method) so its natural shape is preserved. It is decisive for both the basic understanding of life's chemistry and for the development of pharmaceuticals.

For decades, biologists have used x-ray crystallography – blasting x-rays at crystalline proteins – to image biomolecular structures. But now the lab is moving  towards cryo-EM method, because it can take pictures of proteins that can’t easily be formed into large crystals.

 Last year, scientists were able to use cryo-electron microscopy to analyze the structure of the Zika virus, the mosquito-borne virus that causes birth defects.