WORKSHOP ON ELECTRON MICROSCOPY: CRYO-TECHNIQUES AS TOOLS FOR ELUCIDATING BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES
The Center of Microscopy at UFMG will sponsor a workshop entitled “Electron Microscopy Cryo-techniques as Tools for Elucidating
Biological Processes” on December 3-7, 2018. There has been an explosion in research involving cryo-electron microscopy
during the last 5 years. In fact, the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to researchers who were instrumental
in the development of the techniques. These methods are allowing researchers to obtain unprecedented, three-dimensional,
near-atomic resolution images of cells, organelles, protein complexes and even individual molecules with applications
in basic biology and medicine, as well as drug development.
The Center of Microscopy, recently designated as a National Multiuser Center by FINEP, has made a huge investment in
the acquisition of equipment and training of staff during the last 3 years and is now in the phase of opening the use
of cryo-techniques and the associated equipment to the scientific community. Thus, the goal of the workshop is to stimulate
the utilization of cryo-techniques in electron microscopy by researchers in Minas Gerais, as well as Brazil and South
America.
The workshop will consist of 3 days of practical, hands-on sessions for a group of selected participants followed by
2 days of presentations by internationally recognized researchers in the area. The practical sessions (Dec 3-5), coordinated
by Roland Fleck, Gema Viscay-Barrena and Corey Hecksel (Kings College London, UK), Johanna Höög (University of Gothenburg,
Sweden) and Bruno Humbel (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan), for 18 selected participants will take
place in the Center of Microscopy at UFMG and cover the following topics: plunge-freezing, high-pressure freezing, freeze-substitution,
cryo-ultramicrotomy, freeze fracture, and tomography.
The lectures will occur on December 6-7 in CAD 3 (Auditorium B107) and will be open to all participants who have registered.
Organizing Committee:
- Wagner Nunes Rodrigues, Director, CM-UFMG
- Gregory Kitten, Vice-director, CM-UFMG
- Elizabeth Ribeiro da Silva, Scientific Coordination, CM-UFMG
E-mail: workshopcryoem2018.ufmg@gmail.com
