Central NMR Complex, Yokohama Campus

Using 300,000 volts to observe proteins

（▲Top image）The three cryo-electron microscopes (cryo-EMs) housed in the Central NMR Complex, aligned in a row. On the far right with its enclosure doors open is the latest, state-of-the-art cryo-EM that is equipped with an electron emission gun with an acceleration voltage of up to 300kV. To its left is the sample preparation area and computers for analyzing the data. The two boxed areas on the far left each houses a 200kV cryo-EM.

 

Haruhiko Ehara, senior scientist in the Lab for Transcription Structural Biology, explaining the principles of cryo-EM to visitors. After hearing that protein samples are bombarded with a 300kV electron emission gun, a student exclaimed “That’s three times more than Pikachu!”

 

The facade of the Central NMR Complex is visible in the foreground. Behind it is the Central Research Building, to which a covered walkway connects it.