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Health & Science2h 58m ago

UC Berkeley physicists have adapted the phase contrast technique to the electron microscope by adding a laser phase plate, greatly improving cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM).

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UC Berkeley, Redwood City, California

Who
Holger Müller, Bridget Carragher, Stephani Otte
What
UC Berkeley physicists have adapted the phase contrast technique to the electron microscope by adding a laser phase plate, greatly improving cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM).
When
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 07:50:38 GMT · 2h 58m ago
Where
UC Berkeley, Redwood City, California ·
Why
The laser phase plate helps visualize smaller proteins and cellular structures that were previously too faint or challenging for biologists to study with traditional cryo-EM.
The Frontline Impact

How this affects you

This breakthrough allows for clearer images of molecules, including most human proteins down to one-third the size previously possible, and promises to revolutionize cryoelectron tomography (cryo-ET) by enabling the analysis of proteins in their natural cellular environment.

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