What is cryo-electron microscopy, the Nobel prize-winning technique?

A trio of scientists share this year’s Nobel prize for chemistry: Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson.

Their win is for work on a technique known as cryo-electron microscopy that has allowed scientists to study biological molecules in unprecedented sharpness, not least the Zika virus and proteins thought to be involved in Alzheimer’s disease.

Being able to capture images of these biological molecules at atomic resolution not only helps scientists to understand their structures, but has opened up the possibility of exploring biological processes by stitching together images taken at different points in time.