In 2017, Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank, and Richard Henderson won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their contributions to cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM), an imaging technique that can capture pictures of biomolecules such as proteins with atomic precision.
In cryoEM, samples are embedded in vitreous ice, a glass-like form of ice that is obtained when water is frozen so rapidly that crystallization cannot occur. With the sample vitrified, high-resolution pictures of their molecular structure can be taken with an electron microscope, an instrument that forms images using a beam of electrons instead of light.
Source: “Laser improves the time resolution of CryoEM”, EPFL News
