Field Emission Gun Scanning Electron Microscope

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The Crick is a partnership between the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust and three leading universities: University College London, Imperial College London and King's College London. The Crick aspires to be one of the world's leading medical research institutes. The Crick achieves operational and research efficiencies and economies-of-scale through centralised facilities and functions, known as Science Operations, that provide all researchers at the Crick, irrespective of affiliation, with access to cutting-edge equipment, animals for research and laboratory enabling functions such as the Electron Microscopy Science Technology Platform (EM STP). Electron microscopy is a fundamental tool in bioscience research. It is used to image the structure of proteins, pathogens, cells and tissues, to help us understand the biological processes of normal development, disease states, and the effect of therapies.This proposal is for a new scanning electron microscope that will be used for state-of the-art imaging experiments for more than 60 research projects ongoing at the Crick. The microscope can image the surface of cells and tissues to reveal, for example, how immune cells fight infection, how nerve cells connect and communicate, and how drugs work against a range of infectious agents. The microscope has a range of additional features, including automated image stitching to allow us to view large samples and digitally zoom into features of interest (like 'google maps'); faster, more automated, three-dimensional imaging of samples using a technique called array tomography; and a cryo-stage for imaging samples encased in ice, as close to their living state as possible.