Computer for Ultrastructure Research and Molecular Biology

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This group of investigators in structural biology utilize the conventional electron microscope and computer tomography in association with the high-voltage electron microscope. The computer-based components of these projects rely on the availability of raster graphics, large disk space, and memory. The funded equipment of this grant consists of DEC and SUN computer hardware which will provide high speed computing capability. The use of shared instrumentation is appropriate because the bulk of existing software developed in-house has been written with a view towards accommodating a wide range of applications, and because a shared facility leads to the most efficient use of resources. Visualization of the cell and its substructural components has been and continues to be one of the important goals of modern biology. Electron microscopy provides magnification powerful enough to image cellular organelles and macromolecular complexes. The complex 3-dimensional reconstruction of serial sections is performed by computer, providing a picture of these complexes. Structures to be investigated by electron microscopy and high voltage electron microscopy include ribosomes, membrane channels, components of the mitotic apparatus, and cilia.