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2022.8.25 Misc. A Visit to JEOL YOKOGUSHI Research Alliance Laboratories (8/23) Report

In the afternoon of 23 August, JEOL YOKOGUSHI Research Alliance Laboratories held an open tour for members of FBS to see and experience one of the most advanced electron cryomicroscopes in the world.


As the tour began, Prof. NAMBA Keiichi discussed the history of electron cryomicroscopy in an easy-to-understand way, expounding on recent developments in high-resolution structural analysis technology of bio-macromolecules that allow individual atoms to be visualized. He added that the automation processes and speed in data collection and analysis have been progressing according to developments in all kinds of technologies, explaining that images that used to take days to capture can now be taken automatically without pulling all-nighters, and the processing capability to render those images has been dramatically improved. His lecture continued to clarify the limitation of the protein size using current analysis technology and the advantages of AI technology in image analysis.
Following his lecture, Prof. Makino (YOKOGUSHI Lab) gave a talk regarding what kind of analysis can be performed using the equipment and technology to support potential collaborative research studies.
  
By directly seeing the elaborate architecture of the electron cryomicroscope and demonstration of how to prepare samples for it, the FBS members received a deeper understanding of the devices used and the full process of freezing a sample grid to preparing cassettes for cryo-grid insertion to the microscope.
  
The procedure is so complex that the process sometime fails by unknown reasons. Users of the equipment need all the help they can get, so a small Shinto shrine was erected and maintained to offer good luck to help the imaging process along.

This was certainly a rare opportunity for the researchers at FBS, and we hope this experience leads to even more active collaboration within the Graduate School.

 

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