Atomic Structure of Tiny Virus Imaged

[n2doc]

ScienceDaily (May 4, 2010) — UCLA researchers report in the April 30 edition of the journal Cell that they have imaged a virus structure at a resolution high enough to effectively "see" atoms, the first published instance of imaging biological complexes at such a resolution.

The research team, led by Hong Zhou, UCLA professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, used cryo-electron microscopy to image the structure at 3.3 angstroms. An angstrom is the smallest recognized division of a chemical element and is about the distance between the two hydrogen atoms in a water molecule.

The study, the researchers say, demonstrates the great potential of cryo-electron microscopy, or Cryo-EM, for producing extremely high-resolution images of biological samples in their native environment.

"This is the first study to determine an atomic resolution structure through Cryo-EM alone," said Xing Zhang, a postdoctoral candidate in Zhou's group and lead author of the Cell paper. "By proving the effectiveness of this microscopy technique, we have opened the door to a wide variety of biological studies."



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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100504095216.htm

[mike_c]

1. "An angstrom is the smallest recognized division of a chemical element...."

:rofl:

ScienceDaily writers usually do better than THAT! :rofl:

[caraher]

2. Yikes!

I would hammer my students (the non-science majors) for a statement as insipid as that!