Tsinghua University Selects FEI’s Titan Krios Cryo-Electron Microscope

FEI Company announced that it has successfully completed the installation of its Titan Krios™ cryo transmission electron microscope (TEM) at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. The acquisition of this advanced, multi-million dollar microscope, which is the first Titan Krios to be installed in Asia, underscores Tsinghua University’s commitment to leadership in structural biological imaging.

“The Titan Krios’ unique capabilities in automation, cryogenic sample handling and low dose imaging are essential for the advanced structural biological research we pursue here,” said Yigong Shi, professor and senior vice dean of the Medical School at Tsinghua University. “We are confident that it will play a key role in our efforts to unravel the structure-function relationships of biological systems down to the molecular level.”

“We are delighted to complete this first installation of a Titan Krios at Tsinghua University,” said Don Kania, FEI's president and CEO. “We will soon complete additional installations at the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and at National University of Singapore. The selection of the Titan Krios by these three leading structural biology research institutions further reinforces the instrument’s position as the most advanced, commercially-available TEM solution for structural biological applications. Furthermore, these installations clearly demonstrate the structural biology community’s adoption in Asia of the Titan Krios as a 3D molecular imaging platform of choice.”

The Titan Krios installation will be formally commissioned in a ceremony scheduled for August 25, 2009, which will be attended by dignitaries from Tsinghua University and FEI Company, and leading researchers from the region. The program includes a symposium with technical presentations by invited scientists and FEI personnel.

The Titan Krios provides a high resolution 3D imaging solution which is specifically designed to image biological structures down to the molecular level in structural biology applications. Its integrated cryogenic sample handling robotics offer improved automation over existing cryogenic TEMs, and the solution permits a full range of high resolution and 3D techniques including: cryo electron microscopy; single particle analysis; and dual-axis tomography of frozen hydrated samples, such as cells. Cryogenic imaging techniques preserve sample integrity by maintaining it in its native hydrated condition, and proteins in their naturally-occurring conformation. Low electron dose methods enable data acquisition with minimal sample damage.