The Cryo-Electron Microscopy Platform one step closer.

Last August 31 the ALBA synchrotron received the high-voltage cryo-electron microscope for biological applications to be hosted in the Cryo-Electron microscopy platform as a result of a joint action of 5 research institutions and the support of ERDF funds.

This equipment allows observing the structure of biomolecules at atomic scale without the need to obtain crystals. Led by the IBMB-CSIC, with the collaboration of  IRB Barcelona, CSIC, CRG, and UAB.

The Glacios is a 200 kV, FEG Cryo Transmission Electron Microscope (Cryo-TEM), which can be configured for Single Particle Analysis (SPA) high-resolution data acquisition and sample quality assessment, Tomography, and other applications. Its high level of automation and user guidance of experimental settings enable scientists to efficiently unravel protein structures in 3D, as well as understand their functional context in the biological cell. The microscope will be equipped with the last generation detector Falcon 4. This detector is Thermo Fisher Scientific’s next-generation camera system for direct electron detection. A new chip architecture based on the proven, large (14 μm) pixel design of the Thermo Scientific Falcon product range enables an increased internal framerate (250 fps) and improved electron localization while maintaining the unsurpassed, low noise levels of the previous generation. This results in a camera that has an improved (electron counting) DQE over the entire spatial frequency range at effectively 10x shorter exposure times than the previous generation.

This project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union in the framework of the Operational Program ERDF of Catalonia 2014-2020 with a grant of 850,000.00 €