In a pair of breakthrough Nature papers published recently, researchers in Eva Nogales’ Lab at UC Berkeley and Berkeley Lab (Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging Division) mapped two important protein functions in unprecedented detail: the role of TFIID, effectively improving our understanding of how our molecular machinery identifies the right DNA to copy; and how proteins unzip double-stranded DNA, which gives us insights into the first-key steps in gene activation.

These papers are representative of the renaissance currently under way in the cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) field—driven primarily by the rise of cutting-edge electron detector cameras, sophisticated image processing software and access to NERSC supercomputing resources. Read the full story, written by Linda Vu of NERSC.