Science · Frame 04 of 9
Cryo-EM Map
Cryo-electron microscopy freezes thousands of copies of a molecule in thin ice, photographs them with electrons and averages the pictures into a 3D map of density.
The raised picture is a guess from this still. “Turn it here” is the real Splash.
- Shelf
- Science
- Kind
- Built from a recipe
- Your own
- About this map
- Sound
- Yes
- Licenses
- Public domain
How to play
Tap to cut it open; tap again to close it. Pick a map, a level and the fitted model in the Splash tab.
Its controls
| Control | Kind | Range | Start |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cut it open | Tap | ||
| Cut it open | Switch | Off | |
| Map | List | 3 choices | Apoferritin (2.6 Å) |
| Level | List | 3 choices | EMDB's recommended |
| Color by | List | 4 choices | What suits it |
| Fitted atomic model | Setting |
About it
Cryo-electron microscopy freezes thousands of copies of a molecule in thin ice, photographs them with electrons and averages the pictures into a 3D map of density. Scientists look at the map as a surface at one density level and build an atomic model into it.
This splash reads three real maps from the Electron Microscopy Data Bank: apoferritin, a ribosome and a virus shell. It draws the surface at the level EMDB recommends, one small flat splat wherever the density crosses that level, on a grid of about 1 to 1.6 Å voxels that fits a phone. Choose a lower or higher level, color by the fitted model's chains or by distance from the center, and show the model's backbone inside a see-through map. Tap to cut the front half away and see inside. It is for looking, not for measuring or model building.
Sources and credits
| Work | By | License |
|---|---|---|
| Mouse heavy-chain apoferritin by cryo-EM at 100 keV, 2.6 Å (EMD-17961), with its fitted model (PDB 8PVC) | G. McMullan, K. Naydenova, D. Mihaylov et al. (PNAS 120, e2312905120, 2023), via EMDB and the PDB | Public domain (EMDB: free of all copyright restrictions) |
| Arbekacin-bound E. coli 70S ribosome, 3.2 Å (EMD-48329), with its fitted model (PDB 9MKK) | S. Majumdar, N. P. Parajuli, X. Ge, A. Emmerich and S. Sanyal (Scientific Reports 15, 18271, 2025), via EMDB and the PDB | Public domain (EMDB: free of all copyright restrictions) |
| AAV2 virus-like particle, 3.02 Å (EMD-20610), with its fitted model (PDB 6U0V) | M. Agbandje-McKenna and A. Bennett (deposited 2019), via EMDB and the PDB | Public domain (EMDB: free of all copyright restrictions) |
