The Resolution Revolution

Werner Kühlbrandt

Precise knowledge of the structure of macromolecules in the cell is essential for understanding how they function. Structures of large macromolecules can now be obtained at near-atomic resolution by averaging thousands of electron microscope images recorded before radiation damage accumulates. This is what Amunts et al. have done in their research article on page 1485 of this issue (1), reporting the structure of the large subunit of the mitochondrial ribosome at 3.2 Å resolution by electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM). Together with other recent high-resolution cryo-EM structures (2–4) (see the figure), this achievement heralds the beginning of a new era in molecular biology, where structures at near-atomic resolution are no longer the prerogative of x-ray crystallography or nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.