Establishing a feeder EM facility for South Parks Road Oxford (360G-Wellcome-201536_Z_16_Z)

In the last two years a convergence of a new generation of cryo-electron microscopes, with the first generation of direct electron detectors, and new algorithms for image analysis have enabled the routine determination of the structure of macromolecular complexes by EM. It is now possible to look directly at molecules as small as 150-200 kDa with an electron microscope and determine their atomic resolution structure; even more revolutionary, tomographic methods allow direct imaging of the internal machinery of cells at the level of single molecules. These advances are bridging the resolution gap between light microscopy and molecular structures. The goal of this proposal is to make our own research part of this revolution. We request funds to purchase two cryo-EM that will allow the collaborative group immediately to accelerate their own research and to nucleate an advanced cryo-EM facility in the South Parks Road science campus of Oxford University. This facility is also part of an Oxford-wide strategic plan, further integrating structural biology, and ensuring that the co-PIs, and others, can effectively generate the preliminary data needed to justify access to the Titan KRIOS microscopes that are now installed at Harwell as a national facility.