The SCSB Cryo-electron Microscopy (Cryo-EM) Laboratory, located on the first floor of the Medical Research Building, features a BSL-3 containment for viral and pathogen work. The open research space (separate from BSL-3 containment) is designed for studying the structures of macromolecules, their complexes, cell organelles, and other biological systems using various EM techniques, including cryo-electron microscopy and (cryo-) electron tomography. The laboratory has three modern microscopes that are equipped for (cryo-) electron microscopy and (cryo-) electron tomography with automated data collection incorporated.

The 300 kV Thermo-Fisher Titan Krios cryo-EM is a state of the art ultra-high-resolution microscope with post-column electron energy filter and field emission gun (FEG), which is the brightest electron source currently available. This fully automated instrument yields near-atomic resolution images of biological macromolecules and their complexes and is capable collecting data without user intervention.

The high-resolution 200 keV JEM2200FS is located in the W. M. Keck Center for virus imaging in BSL-3 containment and permits the safe structural imaging of highly infectious pathogens that could not studied in the open research area. This is the first cryo-EM facility in the US designed for high-resolution structural studies of wild type infectious agents. The microscope can be controlled remotely through a computer network, which provides access for remote online users and largely extends our user base.

The JEM2100 is available for imaging of non-pathogenic specimens and negatively stained samples. All microscopes in the Laboratory are equipped for (cryo-) electron tomography using automated data collection procedure. The JEM2100 is used for both user training and structural studies. A shared Crystallographic/EM Computational Lab provides high-throughput image-processing with a dedicated 120-core EM Image-Processing Cluster. Images are stored in a local EMEN database that is archived remotely.