2017
Cryo-Electron Microscopy
Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank & Richard Henderson
About This Prize
The 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank, and Richard Henderson “for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution.” Henderson showed that electron microscopy could yield atomic-resolution structures, Dubochet developed vitreous ice embedding to preserve biological samples, and Frank developed single-particle reconstruction algorithms. Together, cryo-EM became a transformative structural biology tool rivaling X-ray crystallography.
Richard Henderson
“From Electron Crystallography to Single Particle CryoEM”
Jacques Dubochet
“Early Cryo-Electron Microscopy”
Joachim Frank
“Single-Particle Reconstruction – Story in a Sample”
Key Concepts
- • Vitreous Ice: Rapid freezing preserves biomolecules in a native, hydrated state without crystallization
- • Single-Particle Analysis: Computational classification and averaging of thousands of particle images in random orientations
- • Resolution Revolution: Direct electron detectors and improved algorithms pushed cryo-EM to near-atomic resolution (<3 Å)
- • No Crystallization Required: Unlike X-ray crystallography, cryo-EM images molecules directly from solution