The cryoEM facility here at IU is a growing resource that currently houses a state-of-the-art 300 kV electron microscope (a JEOL JEM 3200FS equipped with a Gatan UltraScan 4000 CCD camera) along with a Vitrobot Mk3 plunge freezer for preparing frozen, hydrated TEM specimens. The 3200FS is also equipped with an in-column energy filter and with detectors for bright field and high angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (BF- and HAADF-STEM). Users of the cryo EM facility also have access to a 100kV JEOL JEM 1010 in the Indiana Molecular Biology Institute located in Meyers Hall as well as light microsocpy facilities supported by both the IMBI and other campus organizations.
In addition to the imaging capabilities mentioned above, the 3200FS is also equipped with analytical detectors for EELS and EDS. These capabilities, especially when combined with STEM imaging and high resolution TEM (HRTEM), allow the 3200FS to serve members of the IU community whose interests span such diverse fields as the biological sciences, chemistry, materials science, geology and engineering.
Since the cryoEM facility strives to be an integrated resource that includes data collection, storage and interpretation, our resources also include the computational facilities necessary for archiving digital images and the image processing and analysis tools necessary for tomography and biological structure determination.
Further details concerning specific resources in the cryoEM facility can be found by clicking on the items listed below:
- the 3200FS itself
- various holders available for use in the 3200FS
- the Vitrobot Mk3
- computational resources for archiving digital images and image processing/analysis
For a general overview of the cryoEM facility and the directions we would like to head in the near future, please contact the director. The director can also provide general information on the scientific problems that can be addressed both specifically by the 3200FS and by electron microscopy in general. In addition, the director can suggest people to contact with regard to techniques of specimen preparation or electron microscopy that cannot currently be performed here at IUB.
