Drug development boost from microscopy project

Now a new £30m electron microscopy project is aiming to allow researchers to see how a particular drug works within a patient at a cellular level, before it reaches clinical trials.

The project, led by the Rosalind Franklin Institute and including Thermo Fisher Scientific, will develop technology designed to create 3D images of cells at very high resolution.

The technology is based on a technique known as cryogenic electron tomography (cryo-ET), which builds up a 3D image by stitching together multiple 2D images of samples that have been flash frozen at less than -180^oC, according to Professor James Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute.

“In this large volume technique, we can go further than current technology allows – creating images of whole cells, and cells in tissues,” he said.  “These cell-to-cell interfaces are where a lot of incredibly important biology happens – where drugs are taken into cells, and where cells communicate, sending and receiving signals.”