Abstract
This chapter discusses the techniques for the electron microscopy of proteins. The resolution of modern electron microscopes lies between about 5 and 15 Å. The lower figure represents the theoretically attainable resolution that has also been obtained in practice, and the upper value is representative of the guaranteed resolution of many commercial electron microscopes. These orders of resolving power should be sufficient to visualize the smallest proteins. However, these resolving powers are only achieved with ideal objects. There are two useful measures of performance of an electron microscope. The first is resolution or resolving power. The theoretical resolution is determined by the accelerating voltage and certain parameters of the objective lens. These factors are sufficiently similar in all practical electron microscopes of more advanced design, with the result that, for these microscopes, this resolving power is about 5 Å. The second measure of performance is the contrast of the microscope. This is equally important for biological work, for it is this factor that determines whether a protein molecule may be detected.
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