Improving Resolution by Cryo-EM

This molecule, beta-galactosidase, has been studied by the structural biology technique cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM) in order to determine its structure. As cryo-EM technology has improved, the resolution of the resulting structures has improved from rough, low resolution maps (blue, left) to high resolution maps that enable model fitting (gold, right). Cryo-electron microscopy received the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and is beginning to play an important role in drug development.