Liquid Phase Biological Electron Microscopy: Many Published Results and Claimed Benefits Are Fantasy, Not Fact.

ABSTRACT: While the idea of imaging biological molecules by electron microscopy in the liquid phase might seem to be quite attractive, fundamental problems inherent in this approach preclude success at high resolution. One attractive goal, for example, is to image macromolecular machines in action, but radiation-inactivation of enzymatic function severely limits the electron exposures that can be used. Furthermore, although nanometer resolution or better has been claimed in some papers for macromolecular complexes said to be freely suspended in the liquid phase, Brownian motion must limit the achievable resolution to dimensions that are much larger than the macromolecules themselves. While Brownian motion can be avoided by adsorption of particles to a substrate or a thin window, there still is a ris

SUBMITTER: Glaeser RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12363676 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature