Cryo-electron microscopy thrives at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory
The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) is an international facility providing cutting-edge instrumentation to the European life sciences community. By combining centralized training and access with new technology and method development, EMBL is driving innovation and novel insights into biological systems. A critical part of their services is access to cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), which encompasses a range of techniques that can generate near-native structural information at multiple length scales.
In 2021, during the development of the novel Thermo Scientific Tundra Cryo-Transmission Electron Microscope (Cryo-TEM), Thermo Fisher Scientific began collaborating with EMBL to gain key insights and feedback on this new cryo-EM instrument that would assist with further enhancements to the solution focused on performance, ease-of-use and accessibility for new users.
We talked to Dr. Simone Mattei, Team Leader at the EMBL Imaging Centre, about the lab’s mission and resources, as well as the impactful feedback loop that contributed to the Tundra Cryo-TEM as it is today.
Blending cryo-EM research and technology development
EMBL Heidelberg and Dr. Mattei’s team support a large research community looking to tackle ambitious challenges in the life sciences. To enable this, Dr. Mattei believes new instrumentation is crucial to this mission:
“Technology development is intertwined with biological research. We have biological questions that we cannot answer with the tools we have at hand, so we develop new tools, and those new tools can also solve other questions that come later. It’s important to have both technology and research integrated, and this is spirit of my team.”
Demystifying cryo-EM with the Tundra Cryo-TEM
The Tundra Cryo-TEM is designed with a suite of automation features across the entire cryo-EM workflow, from sample transfer to data collection and processing. It leverages a combination of thoughtful hardware design and AI algorithms, which are based on the knowledge and behavior of cryo-EM experts.
As Dr. Mattei describes, “our main aim during this collaboration was to develop a very user-friendly entry-level microscope.” A critical component of this collaboration was software development, particularly optimization of Thermo Scientific EPU Software, which allows for the automated collection of micrographs with the Tundra Cryo-TEM.
Dr. Mattei highlights their emphasis on accessibility: “[We made] sure that anyone, any biologist, can use an electron microscope without extensive experience in electron microscopy. The idea is that the microscope is able to align itself whenever it needs to and guide the user with the setup of the machine. You simply need to specify what your aims are, and then [EPU Software] will help you select the right parameters for your acquisition. And after that, the acquisition itself will start.”
A cryo-EM instrument that meets the needs of life sciences researchers
Working with the EMBL allowed Thermo Fisher to trial the Tundra Cryo-TEM in a facility with a diverse user base and set of experiences. After several years of intensive discussion and optimization, Dr. Mattei lauded the resulting cryo-EM tool.
“I think that this platform is ideal for labs that want to approach cryo-EM for the first time.”
Dr. Lingbo Yu, Product Marketing Manager for the Tundra Cryo-TEM, highlighted the value of this joint effort with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. “As a major cryo-EM imaging facility, they have daily interactions with users. Many of their users, if not the majority of them, are not cryo-EM experts. [These] are our target users for developments on the Tundra; and our hardware and software developments are [aimed at] making the operation more straightforward on cryo-EM. EMBL knows the target user very well, [they] know all the pain points of the users.”
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