These Are The First-Ever Photos Of Individual Proteins
Jean-Nicolas Longchamp et al, 2015, arXiv Hemoglobin Two images of the protein hemoglobin taken by the study authors using a holograpy electron microscope. There are thousands of different proteins in the human body. Each has a unique shape that determines its function. Scientists have a hard time capturing images of individual proteins, however—the high-powered imaging tools would obliterate the fragile proteins, so researchers capture photos of proteins in a crystal structure, often millions of them at a time. The resulting images are often blurry, and some proteins can’t be photographed because they don’t form crystals. Now a team has used wonder-material graphene to take the first photos of individual proteins, according to a study published recently on arXiv and reported by New Scientist. To capture an...