Access to the Cryo-Electron Microscopy Facility

The Cryo-Electron Microscopy Facility is available to UCSD faculty, staff and students and also to members of the non-profit research institutions on the Torrey Pines Mesa.  The Facility is not set up to do work for for-profit companies. The primary purpose of the Facility is to examine biological macromolecules in their native state, and because of this, negative staining and vitrification by plunge freezing are the main sample-preparation techniques utilized in the lab. Other standard EM preparation techniques are not available although samples prepared elsewhere may be examined here.

Users will also be expected, with the proper training, to operate the instruments themselves.  The Facility Manager is readily available, however, to answer questions, fix problems and load samples into the Polara.  Examination of samples and collection of data may be done by the Facility staff on an initial basis or if the projects are directly related to Dr. Timothy S. Baker’s (PI of the facility) research. Training for both instruments is available.

As of July 2009, the Facility is operated as a recharge facility of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Further information on this may be found by clicking on the menu items on the left.