Durham is part of the Northern Eye - the new cryo electron microscope facility in the North East of England

This microscope uses extremely cold temperatures to take incredibly detailed pictures of tiny biological molecules and structures.

CyroEM laboratory

As part of this collaborative project, we will build a dedicated lab just for sample preparation and cryo-freezing to allow seamless operation with the Northern Eye facility.

This includes freezing the samples at extreme low temperatures to keep them in their natural state. Our scientists will use a machine called Vitrobot to automatically freeze the samples. 

Once the samples are frozen, they will be safely transported from Durham to the main microscope facility at Newcastle University where the cryo-electron microscope is located.

CryoEM has transformed structural biology by enabling scientists to see the detailed structure of biological molecules in their natural state at very high resolution.

Being able to see biological molecules and structures in such detail will help researchers in many different areas across the departments of Biosciences and Chemistry.

Our projects range from the development of new sustainable products from waste materials the design of new biological materials by combining chemistry and biology to the development of new therapies for diseases ranging from cancer to neglected tropical diseases.

Collaborative effort for long-term sustainability

The three universities will work together to manage and operate the microscope facility efficiently. They will have groups for day-to-day operations, long-term planning, and getting input from researchers who will use the facility.

The microscope will be located at Newcastle University and complement existing strengths in X-ray crystallography and computational structural biology.

The new cryo-electron microscope will provide valuable imaging capabilities to scientists across the North East region of England. It promises to lead to many new biological discoveries and innovations.

Find out more

• Professor Ehmke Pohl is the Durham lead of this project.
• Professor Wyatt Yue of Newcastle University is the overall lead of this project and his team includes Professor Jon Marles-Wright (Newcastle) and Professor Gary Black (Northumbria).
• This project is carried out by our interdisciplinary and cross-departmental Biophysical Sciences Institute (BSI) with a number of groups from the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Biosciences involved.
• Visit Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) website.
• Interested in studying at Durham? Explore our undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Our Department of Biosciences is ranked fifth in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2025. Visit our Biosciences webpages for more information on our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.