3D Virus Image Taken At Highest Resolution Ever
Shown is an image of bacteriophage Epsilon15 studied by Wen Jiang, an assistant professor of biological sciences at Purdue. The bacteriophage is shown at a resolution of 4.5 angstrom - the highest resolution achieved for a living organism of this size. (Credit: Graphic/Wen Jiang lab)
ScienceDaily (Mar. 6, 2008) — A team led by a Purdue University researcher has achieved images of a virus in detail two times greater than had previously been achieved.
Wen Jiang, an assistant professor of biological sciences at Purdue, led a research team that used the emerging technique of single-particle electron cryomicroscopy to capture a three-dimensional image of a virus at a resolution of 4.5 angstroms. Approximately 1 million angstroms would equal the diameter of a human hair.
"This is one of the first projects to refine the technique to the point of near atomic-level resolution," said Jiang, who also is a member of Purdue's structural biology group. "This breaks a threshold and allows us to now see a whole new level of detail in the structure. This is the highest resolution ever achieved for a living organism of this size."
Details of the structure of a virus provide valuable information for development of disease treatments, he said.