Cryo-electron microscopy resource for studying life at the molecular level

Titan Krios cryo-electron microscopy — May 4, 2022: A Thermo Fisher Scientific engineer performs the pre-installation inspection. Photo courtesy of Gaya Yadav

May 17, 2022: Installation of the Krios has begun, starting with the acoustic cage. Photo courtesy of Gaya Yadav

May 31, 2022: The acoustic enclosure for the microscope has been completed. Image courtesy of Gaya Yadav

May 31, 2022: For Cryo-EM sample prep, the Dual Chamber EasiGlow System. Ionized air during the glow discharge process glows pink. Image courtesy of Gaya Yadav

man on ladder behind an instrument — June 29, 2022: Thermo Scientific engineer installing the high tension tank for the microscope

complex wiring and instrumentation — June 29, 2022: Inside architecture of Titan Krios G4 -XFEG (extreme high-brightness field emission gun)

June 29, 2022: The outer look of Thermo Scientific Krios G4 Cryo Transmission Electron Microscope

Soon the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Texas A&M University will house a leading edge 300 kV cryo-electron microscope.

The instrument is an award-winning Krios G4, which provides never-before-achieved atomic resolution for single particle and tomographic cryo-electron microscopy, cryo-EM.

The precisely renovated room for the instrument in the Biochemistry and Biophysics Building has recently passed inspection. Now, technical experts from Thermo-Fisher are installing the instrument in collaboration with Gaya Yadav, Ph.D., technical director of the cryo-EM resource; Terry Lovingshimer, Operations Manager for Biochemistry and Biophysics; and Junjie Zhang, Ph.D., Associate Professor and faculty director for the resource.

“This represents a leap forward and a remarkable new capability at Texas A&M,” said Josh Wand, Ph.D., University Distinguished Professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics. “Our department is leading this effort. This instrumentation will enable ground-breaking research and will be a platform for future recruitments.”

The facility is expected to be open by late summer or early fall 2022 to support research within The Texas A&M University System and beyond.

To learn more, contact Dr. Gaya Yadav at gaya.yadav@ag.tamu.edu.