Cryo-EM involves several critical steps. First, the biological specimen is rapidly frozen using liquid ethane or propane, a process known as vitrification. This rapid freezing prevents the formation of ice crystals that can damage the specimen. The frozen specimen is then transferred to the electron microscope, where it is maintained at cryogenic temperatures throughout the imaging process. Electrons are used to create an image of the specimen, which is captured by a detector. Advanced computational techniques are used to reconstruct high-resolution three-dimensional images from the two-dimensional electron micrographs.
