History of the Electron Microscope in Cell Biology

In the years followingWorldWar II therewas an explosion in the biological scienceswith the rapid emergence of cell biology, molecular biology and biophysics. These events were affectedby the development anduse of new technologies for cellular fractionation and imaging, specifically the electronmicroscope, which provided a resolution, that is, unobtainable with light microscopes. Electron microscopes made visible the fine structure of cells and their organelles, the structure of viruses. Now cryo-electron microscopy is emerging as a key tool to visualize and localize the proteins in an entire cell, the organization of actin filaments in the cytoskeleton, and molecular complexes such as nuclear pores.