Join Yale Chemistry for a Physical Chemistry Seminar with C. Shan Xu, the Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Cellular & Molecular Physiology, Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale School of Medicine.
The ability to view biomolecules in cells and measure changes in their structure, quantity, distribution, and interactions is fundamental to understanding biology. Conventional Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB-SEM) offers unique benefits such as high resolution (< 10 nm) and robust image alignment. However, its prevailing deficiencies in imaging speed and duration cap the maximum possible image volume. The development of enhanced FIB-SEM expanded the maximum possible image volume by > 10,000x and achieved the finest possible isotropic resolution of 4 nm for whole cell imaging. The expanded volumes open up new approaches in scientific discovery, by combining nano-scale resolution with meso and even macro scale volumes. Using this technology, we enabled the largest and most detailed brain connectome to date, and created the first open-access, 3D atlas of whole cells and tissues with 4-nm voxels. Moreover, combining with super-resolution fluorescence imaging, correlative light-electron microscopy (CLEM) applications enable protein identification in the context of comprehensive cellular architecture. We envision this as the beginning of a new transformative field and a holistic way of looking into the neuronal circuitry and cellular world, which will ultimately lead us to the understanding of how the brain works and how cells function.
Faculty Host: Mark Johnson, Arthur T. Kemp Professor of Chemistry
Pizza will be served.