“Physik bei -200°C – warum wir Proteine einfrieren, bevor wir sie mikroskopieren”
How can we observe proteins under a microscope? That was the question tackled during Girls’ Day at the CryoEM Facility. First, Stefan Steimle, the facility’s director, explained why proteins are invisible with a light microscope – their size is below the wavelength of visible light. To resolve such tiny structures, we need microscopes that operate at much shorter wavelengths, which is where electron microscopy comes in. However, proteins move too quickly for electron microscopy, and the surrounding water would interfere with imaging. The solution is to freeze the proteins just above –200 °C. At these temperatures the proteins become immobile, the water forms non‑crystalline ice (which is essentially invisible in the microscope), and the samples can be examined without obstruction.
After the theoretical part, the students immediately moved on to the practical work: they were allowed to freeze their own protein samples and prepare them for the microscope – a task that required great care and was a real challenge. After the lunch break, they were able to take images of their samples. Fortunately, all the samples yielded good images – which is no small feat, since sample preparation is quite delicate. Congratulations to all the participants!
This Girls’ Day, organized jointly by SFB 1381 and our CryoEM Facility, provided a wonderful insight into a research area at the intersection of physics, chemistry, and biology. We are already looking forward to hosting it again next year!
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Photo: Julia Schimpf
“Neugier als Superpower – dein Tag als Wissenschaftlerin!”
At the Faculty of Chemistry, female scientists, including our associated PI Fiona Kearns (Physical Chemistry), spoke about their careers and their daily work as women in science. Furthermore, the students had the opportunity to conduct their own experiments in small groups on the topic of “sustainability of plastics,” thereby experiencing firsthand what research at the university can look like. Get more insights at the Faculty of Chemistry web page.
Photos: SFB 1381 (if not indicated otherwise)
