BiologyAssignment Paper: Cryo-EM - Impact on Future Life

Cryo-EM: Impact on Future Life
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Cryo-EM: Impact on Future Life
Three scientists, Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank, and Richard Henderson were awarded the 2017 Noble Prize in Chemistry in honor of their contribution towards developing cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). Cryo-EM is a technique for determining the structure of biomolecules in solution at a high resolution (Borman, 2017). After freezing a sample with liquid ethane, a beam of electrons is passed through the material, which deflects the electrons thus allowing scientists to determine the detailed structure of the biomolecules. While electron beams are known to damage biomolecules, the “cryo” property of cryo-EM freezes them thus protecting the biomolecules and preventing them from being dehydrated in the vacuum chamber of electron microscopes. The structures determined using cryo-EM and other related techniques play a critical role in understanding the chemistry of life, and can significantly assist researchers in developing drugs by revealing the mechanisms by which bioactive agents communicate with biomolecules.
Cryo-EM is the latest development in visualizing molecules at atomic levels. In 1950s, x-ray diffraction was used by scientists to produce DNA patterns (Harvard Medical School, 2017). Rosalind Franklin’s work was notably important to the discovery of DNA structure by James Watson and Francis Crick. Since then, nuclear magnetic resonance and x-ray crystallography have been the standard techniques deployed by structural biologists in visualizing the structure of molecules at atomic resolution. With the development of cryo-EM, earlier techniques are being phased out in analyzing large molecules that are assembled in unique configurations. Scientists can now apply cryo-EM technique to divulge the structures of protein complexes at high resolution. Knowledge on protein structures and other biomolecules helps in understanding the way molecules perform intricate tasks in the cell (Fernandez-Leiro & Scheres, 2016). Sinc...